中

zhōng, zhòng

HSK 3.0 3

Rank #14

Definitions

zhōng (noun) middle; center

zhōng (preposition) among; within; during

Zhōng (noun) China; Chinese

zhòng (verb) to hit (the mark); to win (a prize)

Etymology

Depicts a flagpole. There is a circle in the middle marking the center of the flagpole. In older forms of the character, the flagpole has streamers at the top and bottom used to show the direction of the wind.

About

The character 中, representing the concept of center or middle, originated from an early pictographic depiction of a vertical line piercing a central enclosure, commonly understood as an arrow striking the heart of a target. Its structural form, essentially a stroke bisecting a rectangular or square shape, has persisted with minimal alteration, consistently visualizing the idea of being within or at the midpoint. Etymologically tied to this imagery of precision, the character naturally adopted extended meanings related to correctness and achieving one's aim. Over centuries, its semantic scope widened from denoting spatial centrality to encompass temporal contexts such as "during", qualitative states like "medium", and even metaphoric applications, most notably in referring to the central state or China itself, thereby reflecting its evolving role in both language and cultural identity.