征
zhēng HSK4

journey

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approved by Marcus Ngai · Mar 29, 2026, 08:37 AM · Reviewed by Marcus Ngai on Mar 29, 2026, 08:37 AM

Added 徵 as the traditional form, while still separating it from the character's original meaning. (Tweak it a bit if you think it's not clear enough, or just revert this edit, idk).

Changed fields: hint

Originally written as 正. Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 正 represents the sound. In simplified Chinese, it's also the simplified form of 徵.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

正
正 SoundIconic component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct

Depicts a foot walking towards a city.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyengteŋ to correct; to go on a punitive expedition

說文解字

《說文》：“，正行也。从辵，正聲。征，或从彳。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.121
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)