Chinese Tattoo 凤: Meaning, Strokes & Design Guide
The character 凤 means "male phoenix; symbol of joy" and is pronounced fèng. Below: its structure, the words it appears in, and how it works as a tattoo.
Quick facts
| Character | 凤 |
| Pinyin | fèng |
| Meaning | male phoenix; symbol of joy |
| Strokes | 4 |
| Radical | ⼏ (No. 16) |
Words that contain 凤
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 凤凰 | Fèng huáng | Fenghuang County in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 州 | newest-7 |
| 丹凤 | dan1 feng4 | red phoenix | — |
| 楼凤 | lou2 feng4 | (slang) prostitute who provides services in a private apartment | — |
| 雏凤 | chu2 feng4 | lit. phoenix in embryo | — |
| 凤仙花 | feng4 xian1 hua1 | balsam | — |
| 凤凰木 | feng4 huang2 mu4 | royal poinciana (Delonix regia) | — |
Words and levels: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Placing 凤
凤 is only 4 strokes, so it stays readable even small — but a simple character shows every wobble. There is nowhere to hide a shaky line here, so line weight and steady spacing matter more than with a dense character. Bring the stencil together with the pinyin and the meaning, and ask the artist to follow the stencil rather than redrawing the character freehand — freehand redrawing is the most common way a correct character loses a stroke and becomes a different one.
Design notes for 凤
凤 appears both on its own and inside compounds, so the sense depends on context; here it reads “male phoenix; symbol of joy”. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when a Chinese reader checks it. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into a shape that reads as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 凤 mean?
凤 (fèng) means “male phoenix; symbol of joy”.
How is 凤 pronounced?
凤 is pronounced fèng in Mandarin.
How many strokes does 凤 have?
凤 has 4 strokes, under the ⼏ radical (No. 16).
How large should a 凤 tattoo be?
With 4 strokes, 凤 is open and holds detail well even at small sizes.
Which style works for 凤?
Bold regular script (楷书) keeps the strokes clear. Semi-cursive (行书) adds flow but softens edges. Seal script looks classical but is harder for most readers to verify — use it only if a native reader has confirmed the rendering.
Is 凤 common in modern Chinese?
It appears in everyday words such as 凤凰、丹凤、楼凤, though it is more often used inside compounds than alone.
Should I use simplified or traditional 凤?
凤 is written the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, so there is no form to choose.
Want 凤 as a ready-to-use stencil with a native-checked meaning card, sized for your tattoo artist?
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this