How to Write 伤 (shāng) — Meaning “Injury; wound; to hurt.”

Imagine a person (亻) who gets hurt while trying to lift a heavy weight (力). The diagonal stroke on the right looks like a bandage or a cut, reminding you of an injury.

The left radical 亻 should be narrow, and the right side should be slightly wider. The right side starts with a horizontal stroke, then a left-falling diagonal, and ends with a small hook—do not confuse it with the simpler 力 (strength).

什 has 亻 on the left and 十 (ten) on the right, with a crossing horizontal and vertical line. 仁 has 亻 and 二 (two), showing two horizontal strokes. 伤 has a diagonal left-falling stroke on the right, not a straight line or two horizontals.

伤 is common for physical injury, like 受伤 (to be injured), and emotional hurt, like 伤心 (sad or heartbroken). It also appears in words like 伤害 (to harm), and in idioms such as 伤风败俗 (to corrupt public morals).

Common words containing 伤 include: 受伤 (shòu shāng) — to be injured; to be wounded; 伤心 (shāng xīn) — Sad or heartbroken.; 伤害 (shāng hài) — To harm, hurt, or injure..