(cháo) - towards, facing; dynasty, imperial court in Mandarin
cháoTraditional: 朝
Translation
towards, facing; dynasty, imperial court
Word origin
The character originally pictured the sun coming up through grass while the moon was still in the sky, meaning morning; read cháo it shifted to facing towards, and from there to the royal court that officials faced each morning.
- Origin
- native
- Root
- 日 (sun) + 月 (moon) with 屮 (grass)
Stroke order
朝
Examples
。
He walked over towards me.
。
The window faces south.
。
Look over that way.
唐。
This is from the Tang dynasty.
。
She gave me a smile.
朝 (cháo) is a preposition of direction: it marks the way something is pointed or moving. 朝 plus a place or a person plus a verb is the standard pattern, as in 朝我走过来 or 朝门口跑.
The second big use is as a noun for a dynasty or the imperial court: 唐朝, 清朝, 朝廷. Same character, same reading, and you will meet it constantly in historical drama.
Two traps. First, the character has a second reading, zhāo, meaning morning, which survives in set phrases like 朝气 and 今朝. Second, 朝 and 向 overlap but are not identical: 向 can introduce the person you are speaking or appealing to (向他道歉, apologise to him), while 朝 stays closer to physical direction. For a plain journey towards somewhere, 往 is often the more natural choice.
Where this fits
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朝: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "朝" (towards, facing; dynasty, imperial court): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 41.