Chinese symbol for “south”
南
nán
south
The closest CC-CEDICT match for south is 南 (nán), defined as: south.
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
Other Chinese words for “south”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 南方 | nán fāng | south; southern direction; (in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of the Yangtze River |
| 南边 (南邊) | nán bian | south; south side |
| 南面 | nán miàn | south side; south |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 南.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 南部 | nán bù | southern part |
| 南方 | nán fāng | south; southern direction; (in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of the Yangtze River |
| 西南 | xī nán | southwest |
| 南北 | nán běi | north and south; north to south |
| 东南 (東南) | dōng nán | southeast |
| 指南 | zhǐ nán | to guide; guidebook |
See also: Japanese symbol for “south”.
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.