(mìng) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

mìng life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction 8 strokes · Radical (mouth) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 命 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced mìng.

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
命 — 8 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Upper-right envelops Inner. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
outer command
inner mouth

Radical

The radical of is — meaning mouth. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: .

How the character is built

is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. An order 令 given by mouth 口.

HSK 4 Words Containing 命

shēngmìng life
每一个生命都是珍贵的。
Měi yí gè shēngmìng dōu shì zhēnguì de.
Every life is precious.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 9 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

爱情不是生的全部。
From Mock Exam 14 →
人们常说“生在于运动”,可见运动极其重要。
From Mock Exam 13 →
"草绿了,那是生的颜色;花开了,那是大自然的礼物。
From Mock Exam 11 →

Tasks Featuring 命 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 谈论某个人物
Describe a Person · 生命

FAQ

What does 命 mean in Chinese?

命 (mìng) means life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 命 have?

命 is written in 8 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 命?

The radical of 命 is 口 (mouth). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 品, 吹, 台, 否, 另.

What is the pinyin for 命?

命 is pronounced mìng.

What HSK 4 words use 命?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 命 appears in 1 word, including 生命 (shēngmìng). See the full list above.

miǎo All Characters mò →