HSK Guide

Radical 110a spear, a lance; a pike

máo (second tone, rising)

a spear, a lance; a pike

Radical 1105 strokes0 characters

Where the shape comes from

A spear with its blade and the tuft or tassel tied just below the head, mounted on a long shaft held ready to thrust. It gives its name directly to 矛盾, contradiction, from the old story of a merchant who claimed his spear could pierce anything and his shield could stop anything, the two claims unable to both be true at once.

characters filed under

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