How to Write 晌 (shǎng) — Meaning “midday; afternoon”

Think of the sun (日) shining directly overhead at noon, and the right side 向 looks like a clock pointing to 12. You can also remember that 'shǎng' sounds like 'shone' — the sun has shone straight down at midday.

Write the left part 日 (sun) in four strokes, keeping it narrow and tall. Then add the right part 向, which starts with a small dot on top, followed by a horizontal stroke, a vertical hook, and a square enclosure. A common mistake is making the 日 too wide, so keep its width about one-third of the whole character.

The character 旺 (wàng) means 'prosperous' and has 王 (king) on the right instead of 向, while 昀 (yún) refers to 'sunlight' and uses 匀 (even). In contrast, 晌 specifically means 'midday' or 'afternoon' and uses 向 as a phonetic component. Visually, the right side of 晌 looks like a small house, while 旺 has a king's crown and 昀 has a round element.

You often see 晌 in words like 晌午 (shǎng wǔ, noon) and 半晌 (bàn shǎng, half a day or a long while). In everyday speech, especially in northern China, people say 睡晌觉 (shuì shǎng jué) to mean 'take an afternoon nap', which is a common cultural habit during hot summer days.

Common words containing 晌 include: 晌午 (shǎng wǔ) — midday; noon; 半晌 (bàn shǎng) — half a day; a long while; 晌觉 (shǎng jué) — afternoon nap.