Chinese symbol for “east”
东
dōng
Traditional: 東
east; host (i.e. sitting on east side of guest); landlord
The closest CC-CEDICT match for east is 东 (dōng), defined as: east; host (i.e. sitting on east side of guest); landlord.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “east”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 东方 (東方) | dōng fāng | east |
| 东部 (東部) | dōng bù | the east; eastern part |
| 东边 (東邊) | dōng bian | east; east side |
| 左 | zuǒ | left; the Left (politics) |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 东.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 东西 (東西) | dōng xī | east and west |
| 东北 (東北) | dōng běi | northeast |
| 东方 (東方) | dōng fāng | east |
| 东部 (東部) | dōng bù | the east; eastern part |
| 股东 (股東) | gǔ dōng | shareholder; stockholder |
See also: Japanese symbol for “east”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.