纯
Character Story & Explanation
纯 is widely used in daily life — from product labels (e.g., 纯净水 chúnjìng shuǐ, 'purified water') to formal documents (e.g., 纯属虚构 chún shǔ xūgòu, 'entirely fictional'). It appears in the classical idiom 纯正无瑕 (chúnzhèng wúxiá, 'perfectly pure and flawless'), long used in literary criticism and moral discourse since the Ming-Qing period. Government food safety standards (GB 10789–2022) explicitly require labeling of 'pure juice' as 100% 纯果汁.
The character evolved from seal script: the left side 纟 clearly represents silk — historically valued for its purity and fineness; the right side 屯 (tún) serves as a phonetic loan, not a pictograph. No oracle bone form exists for 纯 — it first appeared reliably in Han dynasty bamboo slips as a standard term for 'unadulterated' substances like grain or metal.
Hi students! Let’s learn 纯 (chún) — a beautiful, simple character meaning 'pure' or 'unmixed'. It has only 7 strokes and belongs to the silk (纟) radical, which hints at its original connection to fine, unblended thread — like pure silk without impurities. This visual link helps you remember that 纯 describes something free from contamination, adulteration, or distraction.
Don’t confuse it with similar-sounding characters like 淳 (also chún, meaning 'honest' or 'simple') — they share pronunciation but differ in meaning and radical. 纯 is very common in modern Chinese: you’ll see it on water bottles ('pure water'), in science ('pure substance'), and even in emotional expressions ('pure love'). Its tone is the second tone — rising, like asking a gentle question.
As an HSK Level 5 character, 纯 appears frequently in intermediate-to-advanced texts, especially when discussing quality, authenticity, or moral clarity. Practice writing it stroke by stroke: start with the three-dot silk radical (纟), then add ‘屯’ (tún) — a phonetic component meaning 'to gather' or 'store', suggesting something kept intact and undiluted. Repetition and context will make it stick!
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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