Example sentences
shū书zài在zhuō桌zi子shàng上。
The book is on the table.
tā他zài在shàng上shén什me么kè课？
What class is he taking?
The story behind the character
上
A line with a short mark above it, meaning "on top of." This kind of character isn't drawn, it's indicated. Xu Shen wrote 上, 高也: "up, high." Fun fact: it used to be two lines, and the vertical stroke was added later to stop it being confused with the number 二.