城

城 U+57CE, 城 ← 埍[U+57CD] CJK Unified Ideographs 埏 →[U+57CF] 城 U+2F852, 城 ← 壮[U+2F851] CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 埴 →[U+2F853] Stroke order

城 (Kangxi radical 32, 土+6, 9 strokes, Cangjie input 土戈竹尸 (GIHS), four-corner 43150, composition ⿰土成)

• 𬁃, 𪾓

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 229, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5086
• Dae Jaweon: page 465, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 438, character 7
• Unihan data for U+57CE

• Unihan data for U+2F852

simp. and trad. 城

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *djeŋ): semantic 土 (“soil”) + phonetic 成 (OC *djeŋ), since city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Cognate with 成 (OC *djeŋ, “to complete; city walls”), 盛 (OC *djeŋ, “to hold with a receptacle”), 盛 (OC *djeŋs, “abundant; flourishing”), as 城 (OC *djeŋ, “city wall”) was made of filled-in or stamped earth (Schuessler, 2007). See 成 for more.

Its original meaning was “city walls” and was originally written as 成; later, it started to indicate the city (i.e., the part of territory within the city walls) due to metonymy since a single part of a city indicates the city itself.

城

1. city wall 兵臨城下／兵临城下 ― bīnglínchéngxià ― the enemy army is just outside of the walls of the city
   • 三里之城，七里之郭，環而攻之而不勝。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]三里之城，七里之郭，环而攻之而不胜。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCESān lǐ zhī chéng, qī lǐ zhī guō, huán ér gōng zhī ér bù shèng. [Pinyin]There is a city, with an inner wall of three li in circumference, and an outer wall of seven. The enemy surround and attack it, but they are not able to take it.
2. city, town, especially (historical) walled city 城鄉／城乡 ― chéngxiāng ― urban and rural areas
   • 於是王召見，問藺相如曰：「秦王以十五城請易寡人之璧，可予不？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]于是王召见，问蔺相如曰：「秦王以十五城请易寡人之璧，可予不？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCEYúshì wáng zhàojiàn, wèn Lìn Xiàngrú yuē: “Qín wáng yǐ shíwǔ chéng qǐng yì guǎrén zhī bì, kě yǔ bù?” [Pinyin]So the King summoned Lin Xiangru and asked, “The King of Qin has proposed bartering fifteen towns for my jade (Heshibi). Can I give him (my jade)?”
3. walled district within a city 紫禁城 ― Zǐjìnchéng ― Forbidden City 滿營城／满营城 ― mǎn yíng chéng ― Manchu quarter
4. large commercial venue 服裝城／服装城 ― fúzhuāng chéng ― garment mall 美食城 ― měishí chéng ― food court/dining area
5. (literary) to construct city walls
6. a surname

• 村 (cūn)

Others:

• → Lao: ຊຽງ (sīang)
• → Lü: ᦵᦋᧂ (tseng)
• → Northern Thai: ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦ
• → Thai: เชียง (chiiang)
• → Zhuang: singz

• “城”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎[2], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-
• (Cantonese) 粵音資料集叢
• “城”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2026.
• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “城”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 272.

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

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 城)

• Go-on: じょう (jō, Jōyō)←じやう (zyau, historical)
• Kan-on: せい (sei)
• Kun: しろ (shiro, 城, Jōyō)、き (ki, 城)、きずく (kizuku, 城く)←きづく (kiduku, 城く, historical)、ぐすく (gusuku, 城)、しき (shiki, 城)
• Nanori: いく (iku)、がき (gaki)、き (ki)、くに (kuni)、ぐしく (gushiku)、ぐすく (gusuku)、しき (shiki)、さね (sane)、しげ (shige)、しろ (shiro)、すく (suku)、ぜい (zei)、たち (tachi)、なり (nari)、むら (mura)

• 破(は)城(じょう)槌(つい) (hajōtsui): a battering ram

Kanji in this term 城 しろGrade: 4 kun’yomi

Derivation unknown. The shiro reading for this character appears in 794 CE when the 山背 (Yamashiro) region was renamed 山城,[1] by Emperor Kanmu, thus applying the shiro reading to the 城 kanji for the first time.

• (Tokyo) しろ [shìró] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA(key): [ɕiɾo̞]

城(しろ) • (shiro)

1. castle

The shiro reading may be used most often when this term appears as a standalone noun.

• (honorific) お城(しろ) (oshiro)

Kanji in this term 城 ぐすくGrade: 4 kun’yomi

Borrowed from older Okinawan (Modern Okinawan 城 (gushiku)). The final ku may be cognate with mainland Japanese ki (see below).

The initial gu may be cognate with 御 (go, “honorific”), but it is problematic in that the only honorary prefixes found in Omoro Sōshi are 御 (mi) and 御 (o). Suku may be related to しけ (shike, “a holy place”) or cognate with 塞 (soko, “fortress”). While written with the kanji for “castle”, textual and cultural evidence suggests that the initial primary meaning was a holy place.

• IPA(key): [ɡɯ̟sɨkɯ̟]

城(ぐすく) • (gusuku)

1. (obsolete, Okinawa) castle

Not used in isolation in modern Japanese. This term remains as an element in various place names.

Kanji in this term 城 きGrade: 4 kun’yomi Alternative spelling 柵

ki2: [kɨ] > [ki]

From Old Japanese, from Baekje 己 (*kɨ, “walled settlement”).[3]

• IPA(key): [kʲi]

城(き) • (ki)

1. (archaic) a structure surrounded by a moat or walls: a fortress, castle
   • 787–824: Nihon Ryōiki (preface, page 201)

Kanji in this term 城 しきGrade: 4 kun’yomi Alternative spelling 磯城

Originally a compound of 石 (shi, “stone”) +‎ 城 (ki, “castle, fortress”).

• IPA(key): [ɕikʲi]

城(しき) • (shiki)

1. (archaic) a castle, a fortress

Kanji in this term 城 じょうGrade: 4 goon

/zjau/ → */ʑɔː/ → /d͡ʑoː/

From Middle Chinese 城 (MC dzyeng). Compare Hokkien 城 (siâⁿ).

• (Tokyo) じょー [jóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• IPA(key): [d͡ʑo̞ː]

城(じょう) • (jō) ←じやう (zyau)?

1. a castle, a fortress 盛(もり)岡(おか)城(じょう)Morioka-jōMorioka Castle

• 宮(みや) (miya): palace
• 殿(との) (tono): palace, hall
• 宮(きゅう)殿(でん) (kyūden): palace
• 城(じょう)郭(かく) (jōkaku): castle
• 砦(とりで) (toride): fortress

• “城”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[3] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015-2026
• Hokama, Shuzen with Nobutsuna Saigō (1972) [c. 1531-1623], Nihon Shisō Taikai 18: Omoro Sōshi (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten
• Izumoji, Osamu (1996), Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 30: Nihon Ryōiki (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
• Satake, Akihiro with Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, and Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759), Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 4: Man’yōshū 4 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2003, →ISBN.

From Middle Chinese 城 (MC dzyeng).

Historical readings Dongguk Jeongun reading Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 쎠ᇰ (Yale: ssyèng) Middle Korean Text Eumhun Gloss (hun) Reading Hunmong Jahoe, 1527 잣〮 (Yale: cás) 셔ᇰ (Yale: syèng)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰʌ̹ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [성]

城 (eumhun 재 성 (jae seong))

1. hanja form? of 성 (“castle”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [4]

城(ぐしく) (gushiku)

1. a gusuku (Ryukyuan castle)
   • 1531-1623: Omoro Sōshi
2. a word used in placenames 中(なか)城(ぐしく)からやいびーん。Nakagushiku kara yaibīn.I am from Nakagusuku.

城: Hán Nôm readings: thành, nhật

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