从

cóng

Pinyin
cóng
Pinyin (Plain)
cong
Tone
2
Strokes
4
Radical
人
Readings
cóngcongTone: 2variant of 從|从[cong2]Order: 0Primary
Stroke Order Code
Speed
Stroke Order Data
["M 309 330 Q 336 436 346 565 Q 349 604 366 649 Q 373 662 362 672 Q 341 691 299 710 Q 274 722 255 716 Q 231 707 249 686 Q 282 652 281 615 Q 280 482 263 395 Q 227 212 112 102 Q 90 83 63 60 Q 50 53 46 47 Q 42 40 60 40 Q 96 36 193 118 Q 263 181 303 307 L 309 330 Z", "M 303 307 Q 339 271 415 176 Q 428 157 442 151 Q 449 150 457 158 Q 469 170 461 210 Q 451 264 309 330 C 282 343 282 328 303 307 Z", "M 647 367 Q 660 433 680 609 Q 683 655 702 709 Q 709 722 698 732 Q 677 751 635 770 Q 610 782 591 776 Q 567 767 585 746 Q 618 712 617 675 Q 616 503 591 391 Q 558 213 441 94 Q 413 69 375 36 Q 360 29 358 23 Q 352 16 372 15 Q 414 15 515 100 Q 591 169 637 326 Q 636 327 637 327 L 647 367 Z", "M 637 327 Q 793 39 842 35 Q 911 34 970 32 Q 995 31 996 37 Q 997 44 971 59 Q 830 132 800 165 Q 718 256 647 367 C 631 392 623 353 637 327 Z"]
Meaning
“从” most often means “to follow” or “to go along with,” and by extension “to obey” or “to comply with” (as in 听从, 服从). It is also used in words and patterns meaning “from (a place, time, or source)” (as in 从北京来 “come from Beijing,” or 从早到晚 “from morning to night”).
Metadata
Locale: en
Cached At: 3/24/2026, 7:21:23 PM

Usage

The character “从” is most commonly seen as a preposition meaning “from” or “since.” Learners quickly meet it in basic patterns like 从A到B (“from A to B”), 从早到晚 (“from morning till night”), or 从这儿走 (“go from here”). It also appears with time expressions: 从明天开始 (“starting from tomorrow”), 从小就… (“since childhood…”). In these uses, “从” marks the starting point in time, place, or situation. “从” also appears inside many very common words, so learners get used to recognizing it in compounds. Examples include 跟从 / 听从 (“to follow/obey”), 从来 (often in 从来不… “never…” or 从来没… “have never…”), and 从前 (“in the past, once upon a time”). As a character on its own, it originally depicts “one person following another,” which helps explain the idea of movement or change starting at some point and “going from there,” a notion that carries through to most of its everyday modern uses.

Handwriting Notes

从 is visually simple but behaves a bit differently in handwriting than in printed fonts. In print, it looks like two small 人 (person) shapes, one slightly in front of the other, usually drawn quite upright and with clear separation. In everyday handwriting, the two parts often get closer together and may even slightly merge, so the back “person” can look smaller, lighter, or partly tucked behind the front one. The slant of the strokes can also become more pronounced, making the whole character look like two leaning strokes that echo each other rather than two fully formed 人 shapes. Some writers make the rear component very compact and the front one longer and clearer, so you “feel” one main person and a shadow behind, rather than two equal parts. Because of these variations, the handwritten 从 you see in notes or on whiteboards may be more compressed, more slanted, or less clearly separated than the textbook form, but it still keeps the idea of two similar, leaning components. AI handwriting recognition systems take these differences into account when recognizing 从: they are trained on many handwritten samples, so they can identify the character even when the strokes are joined, tilted, or slightly distorted, as long as the overall two-part structure and relative arrangement remain recognizable.

Description

从 (cóng) is a common Chinese character meaning “from,” “follow,” or “obey,” and is often used to indicate a starting point in time, place, or source. It also appears as a component in many other characters related to following or accompanying.

Common Words

  • 从cóngfrom; since; via; to follow
  • 从前cóng qiánformerly; in the past; once upon a time
  • 从来cóng láialways; all along; (usually used with 不 or 没 to mean) never
  • 从事cóng shìto engage in (a field of work or activity)
  • 从此cóng cǐfrom this time on; from now on; henceforth
  • 从而cóng érthus; thereby; as a result
  • 从不cóng bùnever (at any time)
  • 从未cóng wèinever (up to now)
  • 从小cóng xiǎofrom childhood; since one was small
  • 从头cóng tóufrom the beginning; from scratch
  • 从中cóng zhōngfrom among; therefrom; out of
  • 从没cóng méinever (before); not once
  • 从…到…cóng … dào …from … to …
  • 听从tīng cóngto obey; to heed (advice, orders)
  • 服从fú cóngto obey; to comply with
  • 顺从shùn cóngobedient; compliant; to obey
  • 从军cóng jūnto join the army; to enlist
  • 从优cóng yōuwith favorable (treatment, conditions); on better terms
  • 从速cóng sùas quickly as possible; without delay
  • 自始至终从一而终cóng yī ér zhōngto be faithful to the end; to remain consistent from beginning to end
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