中 (zhōng): The Chinese Character for middle / center
middle / center
中 means “middle / center” in Chinese. It is pronounced zhōng. Listen to the sound above, then learn an everyday use below.
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How to write 中
Stroke order
Expand to see the stroke order.
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One way to use 中.
中 (zhōng) means middle / center. In 中间 (zhōng jiān), it helps describe in the middle. Use zhōng for middle; the different reading zhòng is not taught here. Example sentence: 花在中间。 Huā zài zhōng jiān. — The flowers are in the middle.
Remember 中 Through a Story: Room for the Small Pot
1 min illustrated story · A fictional memory aid for 中
Lin was carrying a small pot of yellow flowers home from the market. She stopped at a long courtyard bench where Alex and their neighbour were resting. There was room for her, but the pot needed a steady place too.
Alex moved toward one end. The neighbour moved toward the other. Lin sat beside Alex and tried putting the pot near the edge, where a passing bag almost brushed it. She caught the rim with both hands.
The neighbour suggested the middle of the bench. Lin and Alex shifted a little farther left. She set the pot between their pair and the neighbour, well away from either end. Everyone checked that the base sat flat.
For a moment the three of them looked at the flowers instead of talking. Then the neighbour asked where Lin had bought them. She described the stall while the little pot stayed safely in the middle, with people on both sides.
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Make 中 part of your Hanzi.
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