床 (chuáng) means "bed" with HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: bed
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
床 has no oracle-bone form. It is a semantic compound of 广 (a roof or lean-to shelter) over 木 (wood), picturing a wooden piece of furniture placed under a roof. The earlier and more formal variant 牀 uses 爿 (a split piece of wood, the left half of 木) plus 木, more directly depicting a wooden frame.
Form evolution
The original form was 牀, attested from seal script onward, with 爿 on the left and 木 on the right. 床, with 广 over 木, began as a popular variant and gradually displaced 牀 in everyday writing during the medieval period. The simplified standard script adopted 床 as the orthodox form, and 牀 is now archaic outside classical texts and Japanese.
How the meaning evolved
The original referent was not specifically a sleeping bed but any low wooden platform or couch, including seats used during the day. The narrowing to 'bed for sleeping' happened over the Tang and Song dynasties as furniture culture changed and chairs replaced low platforms for sitting. Modern Mandarin also extends 床 metaphorically to bed-shaped objects such as 河床 (riverbed) and 机床 (machine tool, literally 'machine platform').
Cultural note
The famous Li Bai line 床前明月光 ('before my bed, the bright moonlight') is now debated: many scholars argue the Tang-era 床 here meant a well-curb or a folding stool outside, not a sleeping bed, which changes the entire scene of the poem. The machine-tool sense in 机床 is a 20th-century calque reflecting the older 'platform' meaning rather than 'bed'.
Basic info
| Pinyin | chuáng |
| Meanings | bed |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1 |
| Frequency | #485 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 床
On the new HSK 1 exam
Studying for HSK 1? Keep 床 with the rest of your level.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.