祥

祥 U+7965, 祥 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7965 ← 祤 [U+7964] CJK Unified Ideographs 祦 → [U+7966]

祥 U+FA1A, 祥 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA1A ← 神 [U+FA19] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 福 → [U+FA1B]

Translingual

Han character

祥 (Kangxi radical 113, 示+6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 戈火廿手 (IFTQ), four-corner 3825₁, composition ⿰礻羊(GHTJ) or ⿰示羊(K or U+FA1A))

Derived characters

• 㬕, 䔗

References

• KangXi: page 842, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 24689
• Dae Jaweon: page 1262, character 16
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2398, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7965

• Unihan data for U+FA1A

Chinese

simp. and trad.		祥
alternative forms		羊

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (羊) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
样	*ʔslaːŋ, *laŋ
佯	*zlaŋ, *laŋ
詳	*ljaŋ, *laŋ
洋	*ljaŋ, *laŋ
翔	*ljaŋ
庠	*ljaŋ
祥	*ljaŋ
痒	*ljaŋ, *laŋʔ
姜	*klaŋ
羌	*kʰlaŋ
蜣	*kʰlaŋ
猐	*kʰlaŋ
唴	*kʰlaŋs
羊	*laŋ
徉	*laŋ
烊	*laŋ
蛘	*laŋ, *laŋʔ
眻	*laŋ, *laŋs
鴹	*laŋ
恙	*laŋs
羕	*laŋs
樣	*laŋs
漾	*laŋs

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ljaŋ): semantic 示 (“altar”) + phonetic 羊 (OC *laŋ)

Etymology

"fortune, omen (good or bad)" > "good luck"

According to Schuessler (2007), many different etymologies are theoretically possible:

• possibly belonging to 悆 (yù) ~ 譽／誉 (yù) ~ 豫 (OC *las, “cheerful, joyous”);
• possibly related to Tibetan [script needed] (g-yaŋ, “happiness, blessing”) (cf Bodman, 1980) (yet see 慶／庆 (qìng));
• Note also Saek [script needed] (laaŋᴬ¹, “luck”)

ancient funeral sacrifice

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): xiáng (xiang²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄤˊ

  (Chengdu, SP): xiang²

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): coeng⁴

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): tiang³

• Gan (Wiktionary): xiong⁴
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): siòng

  (Meixian, Guangdong): xiong²

• Jin (Wiktionary): xion¹
• Min Bei (KCR): ciǒng
• Min Dong (BUC): siòng
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): siông

  (Teochew, Peng'im): siang⁵

• Wu (Wiktionary): ³hhian
• Xiang (Wiktionary): zian²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiáng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄤˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siáng
    • Wade–Giles: hsiang²
    • Yale: syáng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyang
    • Palladius: сян (sjan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑŋ³⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: xiang²
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: xiang
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiaŋ²¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: coeng⁴
    • Yale: chèuhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoeng⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: cêng⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ʃʰœːŋ²¹/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: tiang³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiaŋ²²/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: xiong⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiɔŋ³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: siòng
    • Hakka Romanization System: xiongˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xiong²
    • Sinological IPA: /ɕi̯oŋ¹¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: xiong²
    • Sinological IPA: /ɕiɔŋ¹¹/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: xion¹
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /ɕiɒ̃¹¹/
• Min Bei
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: ciǒng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siɔŋ²¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: siòng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /suoŋ⁵³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siông
    • Tâi-lô: siông
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sioong
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɕiɔŋ²³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Taipei): /ɕiɔŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɕiɔŋ¹³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: siang⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: siâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siaŋ⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: ³hhian
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɦiã²³/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: zian²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /t͡siæn¹³/
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /t͡ɕiæn¹³/

---

• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 祥
Mandarin	Beijing	/ɕiɑŋ³⁵/
	Harbin	/ɕiaŋ²⁴/
	Tianjin	/ɕiɑŋ⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/ɕiaŋ⁴²/
	Qingdao	/siaŋ⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/siaŋ⁴²/
	Xi'an	/ɕiaŋ²⁴/
	Xining	/ɕiɔ̃²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/t͡ɕʰiɑŋ⁵³/ /ɕiɑŋ⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/ɕiɑ̃⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/ɕiɑŋ⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/t͡ɕʰiaŋ²¹³/
	Chengdu	/ɕiaŋ³¹/
	Guiyang	/t͡ɕʰiaŋ²¹/
	Kunming	/t͡ɕʰiã̠³¹/
	Nanjing	/t͡sʰiaŋ²⁴/
	Hefei	/t͡ɕʰiɑ̃⁵⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/ɕiɒ̃¹¹/
	Pingyao	/ɕiɑŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/ɕiɑ̃³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/ɦiã²³/
	Suzhou	/ziã¹³/
	Hangzhou	/d͡ʑiɑŋ²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/ji³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/t͡sʰia⁴⁴/
	Tunxi	/t͡sʰiau⁴⁴/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡sian¹³/
	Xiangtan	/d͡zian¹²/
Gan	Nanchang	/ɕiɔŋ⁴⁵/
Hakka	Meixian	/sioŋ¹¹/
	Taoyuan	/sioŋ¹¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/t͡sʰœŋ²¹/
	Nanning	/t͡sʰœŋ²¹/
	Hong Kong	/t͡sʰœŋ²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/siɔŋ³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/suoŋ⁵³/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/t͡siɔŋ²¹/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/siaŋ⁵⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/siaŋ³¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: /zɨɐŋ/

Rime
Character	祥
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	邪 (17)
Final (韻)	陽 (105)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	似羊切
Baxter	zjang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/zɨɐŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/ziɐŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/ziɑŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/zɨaŋ/
Li Rong	/ziaŋ/
Wang Li	/zĭaŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/zi̯aŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiáng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	coeng4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s.ɢaŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ljaŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	祥
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiáng
Middle Chinese	‹ zjang ›
Old Chinese	/*s.ɢaŋ/
English	auspicious
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	祥
Reading #	1/1
No.	14528
Phonetic component	羊
Rime group	陽
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	詳
Old Chinese	/*ljaŋ/

Definitions

祥

1. good luck, good omen, auspicious

   • 公孟子謂子墨子曰：「有義不義，無祥不祥。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     公孟子谓子墨子曰：“有义不义，无祥不祥。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mozi, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on Y. P. Mei's version

     Gōngmèngzǐ wèi zǐ Mòzǐ yuē: “Yǒu yì bùyì, wú xiáng bùxiáng.” [Pinyin]

     Gongmengzi said to Mozi: "There is only righteousness and unrighteousness, but no such thing as propitiousness or unpropitiousness."

2. (obsolete) fortune, omen (good or bad)

   • 是何祥也？吉凶焉在？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Shì hé xiáng yě? Jíxiōng yān zài? [Pinyin]

     What omens are these? What felicity and calamity is in them?

3. (obsolete) ancient funeral sacrifice

   • 自諸侯達諸士，小祥之祭，主人之酢也嚌之；眾賓兄弟，則皆啐之。大祥：主人啐之，眾賓兄弟皆飲之，可也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     自诸侯达诸士，小祥之祭，主人之酢也哜之；众宾兄弟，则皆啐之。大祥：主人啐之，众宾兄弟皆饮之，可也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Zì zhūhóu dá zhūshì, xiǎoxiáng zhī jì, zhǔrén zhī zuò yě jì zhī; zhòngbīn xiōngdì, zé jiē cuì zhī. Dàxiáng: zhǔrén cuì zhī, zhòngbīn xiōngdì jiē yǐn zhī, kě yě. [Pinyin]

     From the feudal rulers down to all officers, at the minor funeral sacrifice (at the end of the first year's mourning for a parent), when the chief mourner took the cup offered to him by the chief among the visitors, he raised it to his teeth, while the visitors, brothers, and cousins all sipped the cups presented to them. After the major funeral sacrifice (at the end of the second year), the chief mourner might sip his cup, while all the visitors, brothers, and cousins might drink off their cups.

Compounds

• 不祥 (bùxiáng)
• 不祥之兆 (bùxiángzhīzhào)
• 佳兵不祥
• 吉祥 (jíxiáng)
• 吉祥如意 (jíxiángrúyì)
• 吉祥止止
• 吉祥物 (jíxiángwù)
• 大祥
• 天祥
• 妖祥
• 小祥
• 慈祥 (cíxiáng)
• 松祥 (Sōngxiáng)
• 桃灼呈祥
• 碇祥 (Dìngxiáng)
• 祅祥
• 祥光

• 祥刑
• 祥和 (xiánghé)
• 祥瑞 (xiángruì)
• 祥符
• 祥金
• 祥麟
• 祺祥 (qíxiáng)
• 福祥
• 美祥
• 降祥
• 麟趾呈祥
• 五色祥雲／五色祥云
• 南極呈祥／南极呈祥
• 和氣致祥／和气致祥
• 國家祥瑞／国家祥瑞
• 災祥／灾祥

• 熊羆之祥／熊罴之祥
• 王祥臥冰／王祥卧冰
• 瑞氣祥雲／瑞气祥云
• 發祥／发祥 (fāxiáng)
• 發祥地／发祥地 (fāxiángdì)
• 祥雲／祥云 (xiángyún)
• 祥雲瑞彩／祥云瑞彩 (xiángyúnruìcǎi)
• 祥雲瑞氣／祥云瑞气
• 祥風慶雲／祥风庆云
• 祥麟威鳳／祥麟威凤
• 祥麟瑞鳳／祥麟瑞凤
• 禎祥／祯祥 (zhēnxiáng)
• 禨祥／𥘌祥
• 遇難成祥／遇难成祥
• 鍾祥／钟祥 (Zhōngxiáng)
• 龍鳳呈祥／龙凤呈祥 (lóngfèngchéngxiáng)

Japanese

Shinjitai	祥
Kyūjitai	祥 祥 or 祥+︀?
	祥󠄀 祥+󠄀? (Adobe-Japan1)
	祥󠄃 祥+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

祥

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 祥)

1. auspiciousness, happiness
2. good omen or sign
3. celebration after the end of a mourning

Readings

• Go-on: ぞう (zō)^{←ざう (zau, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kun: きざし (kizashi, 祥し); さいわい (saiwai, 祥い)^{←さいはひ (saifafi, 祥ひ, historical)}; さが (saga, 祥); さち (sachi, 祥)
• Nanori: あき (aki); あきら (akira); さか (saka); さき (saki); さち (sachi); さむ (samu); ただ (tada); なが (naga); ひろ (hiro); やす (yasu); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

Compounds

• 祥雲(しょううん) (shōun)
• 祥気(しょうき) (shōki)
• 祥忌(しょうき) (shōki)
• 祥慶(しょうけい) (shōkei)
• 祥瑞(しょうずい) (shōzui)
• 嘉祥(かしょう) (kashō)
• 吉(きち)祥(じょう) (kichijō), 吉祥(きっしょう) (kisshō)
• 休祥(きゅうしょう) (kyūshō)
• 錦祥女(きんしょうじょ) (Kinshōjo)
• 災祥(さいしょう) (saishō)
• 小祥忌(しょうしょうき) (shōshōki), 小祥(しょうしょう) (shōshō)
• 瑞祥(ずいしょう) (zuishō)
• 清祥(せいしょう) (seishō)
• 善祥(ぜんしょう) (zenshō)
• 多祥(たしょう) (tashō)
• 大祥忌(だいしょうき) (daishōki), 大祥(だいしょう) (daishō)
• 発祥(はっしょう) (hasshō)
• 不祥(ふしょう) (fushō)
• 福(ふく)祥(しょう) (fukushō)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
祥
しょう Grade: S
kan’on

Alternative spelling
祥 (kyūjitai)

/sɨau/ → /sʲɨɔː/ → /sjɔː/ → /sjoː/

From Middle Chinese 祥 (MC zɨɐŋ).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しょ​ー [shóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ː]

Noun

祥(しょう) • (shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. an omen of good fortune or happiness

   Synonyms: 吉兆 (kitchō), 瑞兆 (zuichō)

2. a sign of good or bad luck
3. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Derived terms

• 祥(しょう)月(つき) (shōtsuki)

Proper noun

祥(しょう) • (Shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. a female given name
2. a surname

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
祥
さが Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
祥 (kyūjitai)

Attested in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE).

Cognate with 性 (saga, “one's nature, destiny”).

Alternative forms

• 前兆

Noun

祥(さが) • (saga) 

1. (archaic) a sign, omen

Korean

Hanja

祥 • (sang) (hangeul 상, revised sang, McCune–Reischauer sang, Yale sang)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

祥: Hán Nôm readings: tường

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.