祖先 (zǔxiān) · ancestors

祖先 (zǔxiān) means “ancestors; forefathers”. It is written with 2 characters: 祖 (ancestor) + 先 (first). It is an old HSK 6 word (HSK 2.0).

How 祖先 is built

What 祖 is made of

礻shì — spirit/altar
- 卜bo — divination
  - 丨 — vertical stroke
  - 丶 — dot
且qiě — moreover
- 月yuè — moon; month
  - 冂 — frame
  - 二 — two strokes
- 一 — horizontal stroke

What 先 is made of

土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
  - 一 — horizontal stroke
  - 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
儿ér — child
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 乚 — hook stroke

Origin hint: Someone stepping 止 in front of another person 儿 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)

我们的祖先生活在这片土地上。Wǒmen de zǔxiān shēnghuó zài zhè piàn tǔdì shàng.Our ancestors lived on this land.

清明节时人们纪念祖先。Qīngmíngjié shí rénmen jìniàn zǔxiān.At Qingming Festival people honour their ancestors.

What does 祖先 mean?

祖先 (zǔxiān) means “ancestors; forefathers”.

How do you pronounce 祖先?

祖先 is pronounced zǔxiān.

Which HSK level is 祖先?

祖先 is in Old HSK 6.

Learn 祖先 with its group

It is part of Old HSK 6 · Group 249: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.