成

Phono-semantic compound combining:

戊 (무) – the 5th of the Ten Heavenly stems (天干 tiāngān), providing meaning;

丁 (정) – the 4th of the Ten Heavenly Stems, providing sound.

In early forms, 成 depicted a decisive strike that brings an action to its conclusion. The presence of 戈 (weapon) suggests decisiveness, enforcement, or finality, from which the idea of completion naturally arose.

Something is 成 when it is no longer in process — it has reached its decisive end.

성공 (成功) — success

완성 (完成) — completion, perfection

형성 (形成) — formation

성립 (成立) — establishment; validity

성인 (成人) — adult; completed person

구성 (構成) — composition; structure

成 emphasizes result and fulfillment.

Contrasts with:

作 — to make, to act (process-focused)

始 — to begin

未 — not yet completed

Thus, 成 always implies closure, resolution, or transformation.

Core semantic family:

就 — to accomplish; to approach completion

遂 — to carry through; to fulfill

完 — to finish completely

果 — result; outcome

功 — merit; achievement

Contrast characters:

敗 — to fail

毀 — to destroy

未 — not yet

In Chinese, it also has the numeric usage of “tenths”, e.g.

三成 = 30%

六成四 = 64%.

Classical citations:

From the Analects (論語):

「君子成己成人。」

“The gentleman perfects himself and helps others to be perfected.”

Here 成 means to perfect or fulfill one’s moral cultivation.

Mencius (孟子)

「誠者，天之道也；成之者，人之道也。」

“Sincerity is the Way of Heaven; to realize it is the Way of humans.”

In this passage, 成 signifies human effort that brings innate principle into reality.

From Mahāyāna Buddhist texts:

「成佛」

“To become a Buddha.”

成 here expresses spiritual completion — the culmination of practice and enlightenment.

From Tang poetry:

「功成身退」

“When the work is accomplished, one withdraws.”

A common poetic and philosophical motif: achievement followed by humility.

Its composition of 戊 and 丁 traditionally makes it 7 strokes, but the simplified 6-stroke form is widely used today and accepted in modern script standards.

Full (standard) form:

戊 (5 strokes) + 丁 (2 strokes) = 7 strokes total.

Simplified writing form:

Many modern fonts write 丁 in a single ㄱ-shaped stroke, reducing 成 to 6 strokes.

Explanation from the Korean Language Society (한국어문회):

“The original character 成 has 7 strokes.

When 丁 is written as a single ㄱ-shaped stroke, it counts as 6 strokes.

The 6-stroke version is the simplified form (속자).”

Modern new-style scripts officially recognize the simplified (6-stroke) form.

成 itself is the standard form.

Appears as a phonetic or semantic component in many characters:

城 (city)

盛 (prosperous)

誠 (sincerity)

These retain the core idea of establishment or fulfillment.