宪
Character Story & Explanation
In Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square on National Day, banners reading '弘扬宪法精神' (Promote the spirit of the Constitution) flank the Monument to the People’s Heroes. This phrase appears annually in state media, school curricula, and public legal education campaigns — especially around December 4, China’s National Constitution Day, established in 2014. The character 宪 is almost exclusively used in formal, institutional contexts: laws, government reports, and academic texts — never in colloquial speech or informal writing.
The character 宪 is not pictographic. Its earliest attested form appears in bronze inscriptions of the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), where it likely derived from 宀 (roof) + 顯 (to display prominently), suggesting ‘a publicly declared, authoritative ordinance’. By the Han dynasty, it solidified as a term for ‘statute’ or ‘model law’, later becoming synonymous with ‘constitution’ in modern usage.
The character 宪 (xiàn) embodies the foundational concept of 'statute' or 'constitution' in Chinese legal and political life. Its presence signals legitimacy, authority, and civic order — appearing on official documents, national holidays, and educational materials across China. Though not used in casual speech, it carries immense weight in formal contexts, reflecting how deeply law is interwoven with governance and social identity in modern China.
Historically, 宪 entered mainstream usage during the late Qing and Republican eras as China grappled with constitutional reform. It was central to the 1912 Provisional Constitution and later enshrined in the 1954 People’s Republic Constitution — the first socialist constitution. Today, its appearance evokes both historical continuity and contemporary rule-of-law discourse promoted in schools and state media.
As an HSK Level 6 character, 宪 challenges learners not through complexity of form — its nine strokes are orderly — but through conceptual density. It rarely stands alone; instead, it anchors compound terms like 宪法 (constitution) and 违宪 (unconstitutional). Mastery means understanding not just vocabulary, but how Chinese society frames legality, rights, and state power through language.
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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