行
contributes the sense of roads and going — walking · Kangxi radical 144
contributes the sense of roads and going — walking, moving along, and by extension streets and thoroughfares
The oldest form of 行 was a picture of a crossroads: two roads meeting, drawn as a set of paths branching in four directions. Over time the drawing was flattened into two halves, and in the modern character you can still read them as 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right — two stretches of road, or two sides of a street, standing side by side. Characters built on 行 mostly keep this street sense (街 street, 衢 thoroughfare, 衖 lane) or extend it to moving and spreading along a path (衍 to spread out); in others, such as 桁, 珩 and 鸻, 行 is only there for its sound.
行 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of roads and going — walking
- Strokes
- 6
- Characters
- 21
- Role
- Usually contributes meaning
- Kangxi radical
- 144
Characters with 行 (13 of 21)
HSK 3 · 1
HSK 5 · 1
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 行 mean?
行 means "contributes the sense of roads and going — walking". In the characters that contain it, it usually contributes meaning.
How many Chinese characters contain 行?
21 characters in this dictionary contain 行, including ones at HSK 3, HSK 5, HSK 6.
Is 行 a radical?
Yes — 行 is Kangxi radical 144, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 行 have?
行 is written in 6 strokes.