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Kanji Detail for 蒼 - "blue, pale, verdant"

蒼

  • Meaning

    蒼 means "blue, pale, verdant."

    1. Blue - A deep blue-green color like grass.

    2. Verdant - Green and flourishing; lush.

    3. Pale - Aged appearance; having grey mixed in.

  • Four-character idioms with 蒼

    • 古色蒼然 こしょくそうぜん Listen antique-looking; looking hoary with patina
    • 暮色蒼然 ぼしょくそうぜん Listen dusky; somber light of a gathering dusk
    • 雲外蒼天 うんがいそうてん Listen light at the end of the tunnel; relief after overcoming hardship
    • 顔面蒼白 がんめんそうはく Listen one's face turning pale (ashen); the color being drained from one's face

  • Origin of 蒼

    The grass crown 艹 over 倉, the storehouse, lending the reading sō: vegetation deep enough to store shadow — the blue-green of dense growth, and of vast skies and seas.

    How to remember it: A storehouse 倉 packed with green 艹 — colour so deep it darkens: the wild blue-green.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 蒼

    • Verified meaning: blue, pale, verdant
    • Jinmeiyō kanji — officially approved for use in Japanese given names
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あお, あおい, あずり, しげる)

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 蒼

    Given names 蒼(あお)Listen 蒼(あおい)Listen 蒼(あずり)Listen 蒼(しげる)Listen 蒼(そう)Listen 蒼(そうかん)Listen

    Surnames 蒼(そうじ)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    blue; pale

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    blue; green

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Cang

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    dark blue; deep green; old, hoary

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    The color of grass. All deep blue-green colors are called 蒼. Such as 蒼江 (gray-green river), 蒼海 (gray-green sea). Also 蒼蒼 is the appearance of something old. The Book of Odes says "The reeds are gray-green." This is the meaning. An old servant is called 蒼頭 (gray head). Meaning one who wraps the head with a blue-green cloth. | The sky is called 彼蒼 (that blue sky). The expression is based on the Book of Odes. Such as saying 穹蒼 (vault of heaven), 昊蒼 (vast sky). All have this meaning. | 蒼生. Refers to the common people. | 莽蒼. The nearby wilderness. Appears in the Zhuangzi.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    soh(ソウ) ソウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    aoi(あおい) あおい

  • Strokes

    tip

    13 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    艸 艹 (kusa・kusakammuri・soko)

  • Related Keywords

    blue verdant pale aging thrive unripe sky heaven green grass color hue jade calm serene flourishing deep

Sentences including 蒼

  • You are as white as a sheet.

  • Shoichi's face turned pale.

  • The colour drained from her face at the news of the traffic accident.

  • Today, the managing director came in carrying a computer. Well, I was surprised and asked, "Can I help you with anything?", and he said, "My computer stopped working, so I called, but Tanaka told me to bring it up to the 4th floor, so here I am." Everyone turned pale. Well, needless to say, our boss gave Tanaka a real going-over. It couldn't be helped. It could've been any one of us though, so I thought, "I better be careful."

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 艸 艹 (kusa・kusakammuri・soko)

See all kanji with this radical →

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