宗

Mandarin · pinyin zōng#

Meanings · zōng

  1. school
  2. sect
  3. purpose
  4. model
  5. ancestor
  6. clan
  7. to take as one's model (in academic or artistic work)
  8. classifier for batches, items, cases (medical or legal), reservoirs
Mandarin · pinyin Zōng#

Meanings · Zōng

  1. surname Zong
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Characters in this entry

宗
zōng · lineage, ancestry; ancestor, clan
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · zong1

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1character link27same-tone records
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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 · 11 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung1

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

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

character

  1. ancestral temple
  2. ancestors or elders of a people
  3. ancestors or elders of a people — One of the two suffixes of emperors' temple names.
  4. family
  5. school; sect
  6. main purpose
  7. to revere; to respect; to follow
  8. (historical) an administrative division in historical Tibet or in present-day Bhutan, equivalent to a county
  9. Classifier for things, sums of money, goods, etc.
  10. Classifier for cases (e.g. traffic accidents, criminal cases, medical cases, etc.).
  11. a surname

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

宗 · zong1 · Zong1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source lines 32,320, 32,319
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source records宗 宗 [zong1] /school/sect/purpose/model/ancestor/clan/to take as one's model (in academic or artistic work)/classifier for batches, items, cases (medical or legal), reservoirs/宗 宗 [Zong1] /surname Zong/