How to Write 成 (chéng) — Meaning “to become; to finish; to succeed”

Imagine a person (the left side) holding a spear (戈 on the right) and shouting 'I succeeded!'—the spear represents decisive action that leads to success. You can also think of the 6 strokes as 'six steps to become successful.'

Start with a horizontal stroke, then a left-falling diagonal, then another horizontal, then a vertical, followed by a horizontal fold with a hook, and finally a left-falling stroke. A common mistake is making the left side too wide; keep it narrow and balanced with the wider 戈 component on the right.

戈 (gē) is the radical meaning 'spear' and is a simple character with only 4 strokes; it is rarely used alone. 戉 (yuè) is an ancient axe character that looks like 戈 with an extra horizontal stroke and is very uncommon. In contrast, 成 has 6 strokes with additional left-side components, making it visually longer and used in many common words like 成功.

成 is very common in daily life, appearing in words like 成功 (success), 变成 (to become), and 成年 (adult). Culturally, it is a key character in the proverb 有志者事竟成 ('Where there is a will, there is a way'), emphasizing determination leading to success.

Common words containing 成 include: 成功 (chéng gōng) — success; to succeed; 变成 (biàn chéng) — to become or turn into; 成年 (chéng nián) — adult; to come of age.