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Mythic Mandarin

从前 (cóng qián): meaning and stroke order

从前 (cóng qián) means previously, formerly, once upon a time.

从前

Simplified
从前
Traditional
從前
Pinyin
cóng qián

Stroke order of 从前

从

  • cóng variant of 從|从[cong2]
  • Cóng surname Cong
  • cóng from; through; via; (bound form) to follow
  • 4 strokes
  • Traditional form: 從

Stroke by stroke

前

  • qián front; forward
  • 9 strokes

Stroke by stroke

Meaning of 从前

  1. cóng qián Traditional 從前
    • previously
    • formerly
    • once upon a time

Radicals of the characters

从
Radical 人 (Kangxi radical 9) · 4 strokes · 人 on the left, 人 on the right
前
Radical 刀 (Kangxi radical 18) · 9 strokes · 䒑 on top, 刖 below

Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan database. Structure: the shapes a character is written with (BabelStone IDS), not necessarily parts that carry meaning or sound.

从前 in our stories

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

  • 从前，有一个年轻的农民，家里很穷，每天一个人在田里干活。

    cóngqián yǒu yí gè niánqīng de nóngmín jiāli hěn qióng měitiān yí gè rén zài tián lǐ gànhuó

    Once upon a time there was a young farmer. He was very poor and worked alone in the fields every day.

    From the story The river-snail girl HSK 4

  • 室友拍拍他的肩膀，给他讲了一个故事：从前有个人的羊圈破了个洞，狼叼走了一只羊。

    shìyǒu pāi pāi tā de jiānbǎng gěi tā jiǎng le yí gè gùshi cóngqián yǒu gè rén de yángjuàn pò le gè dòng láng diāo zǒu le yì zhī yáng

    His roommate patted his shoulder and told him a story: once a man's sheepfold had a hole, and a wolf carried off a sheep.

    From the story Mending the fold after the sheep is lost HSK 5

  • 从前楚国有一位叶公，口口声声说自己最喜欢龙。

    cóngqián Chǔguó yǒu yí wèi Yègōng kǒukoushēngshēng shuō zìjǐ zuì xǐhuan lóng

    Once in the state of Chu there was a Lord Ye who was forever saying that he loved dragons more than anything.

    From the story Lord Ye loves dragons HSK 7–9 · Level 9

Stories using 从前

Dictionary data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Stroke data: Hanzi Writer data, derived from Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License). Animation: Hanzi Writer (MIT licence). Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan (Unicode License v3).