How to Write 央 (yāng) — Meaning “Center / To beg”

Picture a big person (大) standing right in the center of a square room. The sound 'yāng' is like 'young'—imagine a young girl standing at the center of attention.

Start with a vertical stroke on the left, then a horizontal-down stroke for the top-right corner. Be sure the three horizontal lines are evenly spaced, and the final vertical goes through all of them. A common mistake is making the left side look like a separate vertical line—it should be one continuous stroke.

央 has a closed square frame with a vertical line through the middle; 大 is just three strokes forming a person shape. 买 has a hook on top and a different lower part. The meanings are also different: 央 means center or beg, 大 means big, and 买 means to buy.

央 appears in 中央 (zhōng yāng, center), 央求 (yāng qiú, to beg politely), and 央视 (yāng shì, CCTV). CCTV is often called 央视 in daily conversation, so you will hear it often in news and media.

Common words containing 央 include: 中央 (zhōng yāng) — Center; central; 央求 (yāng qiú) — To beg / To entreat; 央视 (yāng shì) — CCTV (China Central Television).