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商

Mandarin · pinyin shāng#

commerce
merchant
dealer
to consult
2nd note in pentatonic scale
quotient (as in 智商 zhì shāng, intelligence quotient)

Mandarin · pinyin Shāng#

Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC)
surname Shang

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Characters in this entry

商: shāng · commerce, business, trade

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · shang1

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1character link16same-tone records1source reference

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 15 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

soeng1

Cantonese word readings for 商. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

to calculate; to estimate; to reckon
to discuss; to consult; to deliberate
(of merchants) to trade; to do business; commerce
businessman; dealer; trader; merchant
(music) the second note in the Chinese pentatonic scale, equivalent to "2" in numbered musical notation
(literary) autumn (the shāng note was associated with autumn in ancient Chinese five-phase cosmology)
(astronomy) Alternative name for 心 (xīn, “Heart mansion, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions; also called 商星”).
(historical) a division on the indicator rod of an ancient water clock; a unit roughly equal to a quarter hour
(～朝) the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – 1046 BCE)
(historical) alternative name for the state of Song during the Spring and Autumn period, as the ruling house descended from the Shang royal family
(historical) name of various ancient places: — the fief of Xie, progenitor of the Shang dynasty, in present-day Shangluo, Shaanxi
(historical) name of various ancient places: — a Warring States period location in present-day Xichuan County, Henan, where Shang Yang was enfeoffed
(mathematics) quotient (result of division)
(mathematics) to yield as a quotient
a surname

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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