篮
Character Story & Explanation
篮 is widely used in modern Chinese for containers — especially woven ones — and appears in common terms like 菜篮子 (càilánzi, 'vegetable basket'), a metonym for household food supply and even government price stability policies. It’s also in 篮球 (lánqiú, 'basketball'), introduced to China in the 1890s and now one of the country’s most popular sports. The term has been official since the 1910s, appearing in early physical education textbooks.
The character is not pictographic in origin; it evolved from seal script and was standardized in clerical script. Its structure reflects its function: ⺮ (bamboo) + 间 (a phonetic element derived from 間, meaning 'space' or 'interval', suggesting an open-weave container). No oracle bone or bronze inscriptions exist for 篮 — it emerged later, likely during the Han dynasty as bamboo craftsmanship flourished.
Hi students! Today we’re learning the character 篮 (lán), meaning 'basket'. It’s an HSK Level 2 character — very practical and frequently seen in daily life. Notice its bamboo radical ⺮ on top: this tells us it’s related to bamboo-made objects, since traditional baskets were woven from bamboo strips. The bottom part, 间 (jiān), is a phonetic component — it gives a clue to pronunciation (though lán and jiān aren’t identical, they share historical sound links).
This character is a great example of how Chinese combines meaning and sound. Unlike alphabetic scripts, each character carries both semantic and phonetic information. Even though 篮 looks complex with 16 strokes, breaking it into ⺮ + 间 helps you remember both shape and sound. Practice writing it slowly — start with the bamboo radical first, then the lower part.
Don’t confuse 篮 with similar-looking characters like 蓝 (blue) or 滥 (excessive) — they share the same pronunciation but have completely different meanings and radicals. Focus on the bamboo top: if it’s made of bamboo and holds things, it’s probably 篮! You’ll see it everywhere — from supermarket shopping baskets to basketball hoops (yes, even sports terms use it!).
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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