舫 (fǎng) · a boat (especially a pleasure boat or houseboat)

Meanings

1 a boat (especially a pleasure boat or houseboat)
2 two boats lashed side by side

Characters

舫

fǎng

pleasure boat

Examples

HSK 6

一艘画舫慢慢驶过湖面。

Yì sōu huàfǎng mànmàn shǐ guò húmiàn.

A painted pleasure boat slowly crossed the lake.

HSK 7-9

颐和园的湖边有一座石舫。

Yíhéyuán de hú biān yǒu yí zuò shífǎng.

There is a marble boat by the lake in the Summer Palace.

Tips

usage

舫 usually means an ornamental pleasure boat, as in 画舫 (a decorated lake barge) and 石舫 (a stone boat-shaped pavilion). Its older sense, two boats tied together, is now literary only.

Components

radical

舟 zhōu

boat

舟 is the boat radical, a pictograph of a small craft. It tells you 舫 is a kind of vessel, grouping it with 船 (ship) and 艇 (boat).

phonetic

方 fāng

square; side

方 gives the sound, shifting tone from fāng to fǎng. It also faintly fits the old 'two boats side by side' sense, since 方 can suggest things set parallel.