当
Simplified当Traditional當Strokes6Radical小HSK3FrequencyAmong the 150 most common Chinese characters
当 (traditional 當) is a very common character meaning 'to serve as / to be', 'ought to', 'at (a certain time or place)', and — in its second tone reading — 'to treat as', 'suitable', and 'to pawn'. Learners meet it early in 当然 (of course), 当时 (at that time) and 上当 (to be cheated). The simplified form is a cursive abbreviation of 當 and shares nothing visible with the field 田 inside the traditional form.
Readings
Mandarindāng · ㄉㄤ
Cantonesedong1 · dōng
Second reading dàng (Jyutping dong3, Yale dong) for the senses 'treat as, suitable, pawn, that very (day/year)': 上当 shàngdàng, 当作 dàngzuò, 当天 dàngtiān.
Meanings
- verb to serve as, to work as, to be (a role): 当老师 to be a teacher
- auxiliary verb ought to, should: 应当
- preposition at (a time), in the presence of: 当我到家时 when I got home; 当着大家 in front of everyone
- verb (dàng) to regard as, to take for: 把他当朋友
- adjective (dàng) appropriate, fitting: 恰当, 妥当
- verb (dàng) to pawn; a pawnshop transaction: 当铺
- verb to face, to bear, to be equal to: 门当户对, 一夫当关
Other pronunciations
- dàng to regard as, to treat as; proper, suitable; to pawn; that same (day, night, year)
How it is built
phono-semantic
Radical 小. small (the modern simplified form is filed under 小 or 彐 depending on the dictionary; the traditional 當 is filed under 田 'field')
- 尚sound In the traditional 當, 尚 (shàng) gives the sound; the simplified 当 keeps only its squashed top 丷+彐-like remnant
- 田meaning 'field' in 當 — thought to relate to matching or valuing land; dropped entirely in the simplified form
Origin
The traditional 當 is a straightforward phono-semantic compound: 田 'field' supplies the meaning and 尚 supplies the sound. The Shuowen glosses it as 'fields of equal value facing each other', which links the graph to the core idea of matching, equalling and corresponding — from which 'to face', 'to serve as' and 'to be worth / to pawn' all plausibly grow. The exact path from 'field' to the modern range of senses is inferred rather than documented, so treat the field story as a reasonable reconstruction, not a certainty. The simplified 当 is not an old variant of the whole graph but a cursive-derived abbreviation, standardised in the 1950s, that preserves the outline of the top of 尚 and discards 田.
Remembering it
Think of the traditional 當 as 尚 sitting on a 田: two fields of equal value face each other, so 當 means 'to match, to correspond, to be worth'. For the simplified 当, remember it as 當 with the field ploughed away — only the hat remains.
Words using it
当然dāngrán · dong1 jin4of course, naturally 当时dāngshí · dong1 si4at that time, back then 当地dāngdì · dong1 dei6local, in that locality 应当yīngdāng · jing1 dong1ought to, should 当心dāngxīn · dong1 sam1to take care, watch out 相当xiāngdāng · soeng1 dong1quite, fairly; to be equivalent to 上当shàngdàng · soeng5 dong3to be taken in, to fall for a trick 当作dàngzuò · dong3 zok3to treat as, to regard as 当年dāngnián · dong1 nin4in those years, back in the day 当铺dàngpù · dong3 pou3pawnshop In a sentence
Tā dāng le shí nián lǎoshī.
He has been a teacher for ten years.
Dāngrán kěyǐ, nǐ xiān zuò ba.
Of course you can — have a seat first.
Dāngshí wǒ hái bú rènshi tā.
At that time I didn't know her yet.
Bié shàngdàng, nà shì piàn rén de.
Don't be taken in — that's a scam.
Wǒ yìzhí bǎ nǐ dàng hǎo péngyou.
I've always regarded you as a good friend.
Usage
The tone split matters: dāng/dong1 for 'serve as, ought, at the time of', dàng/dong3 for 'treat as, appropriate, pawn'. 当天 is ambiguous in writing — dāngtiān 'on that day (in the past)' vs dàngtiān 'the very same day'. In Cantonese speech 當 (dong1) appears in 當然 dong1 jin4, 上當 soeng5 dong3, and colloquially 當佢係… 'treat him as…'. Note 应当 is a shade more formal/written than 应该.
Context
当铺/當舖 (pawnshops) were a fixture of old Chinese towns; traditional Hong Kong pawnshops still hang a sign with a bat holding a coin. The idiom 门当户对 (méndāng-hùduì), 'matched doors and equal households', preserves the old 'equal in value' sense and is still used about marriage matches.