车

車

chē, jū

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

chē (noun) car; vehicle

jū (noun) rook (in chess)

Etymology

Pictograph of a war chariot. The simplified character 车 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 車.

About

The traditional character 車 is a pictograph of a two-wheeled chariot seen from above, showing the axle, wheels, and central carriage. The simplified 车 derives from the cursive form of 車. Originally denoting war and transport chariots used by the nobility, the character now extends to all wheeled vehicles, from carts and bicycles to cars and trains. It also names the chariot piece in Chinese chess (pronounced jū) and serves as a semantic radical in characters related to wheeled transport.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Mid Warring States (~300 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我有一辆红色的车。

Wǒ yǒu yī liàng hóngsè de chē.

I have a red car.

他每天开车去上班。

Tā měitiān kāichē qù shàngbān.

He drives to work every day.

这辆车跑得很快。

Zhè liàng chē pǎo de hěn kuài.

This car runs very fast.

公共汽车很拥挤。

Gōnggòng qìchē hěn yōngjǐ.

The bus is very crowded.

我喜欢骑自行车上学。

Wǒ xǐhuān qí zìxíngchē shàngxué.

I like riding a bicycle to school.

火车站旁边有停车场。

Huǒchē zhàn pángbiān yǒu tíngchē chǎng.

There is a parking lot next to the train station.

如果你买车，要考虑油耗。

Rúguǒ nǐ mǎi chē, yào kǎolǜ yóuhào.

If you buy a car, you need to consider fuel consumption.

随着科技发展，电动汽车越来越普及。

Suízhe kējì fāzhǎn, diàndòng qìchē yuè lái yuè pǔjí.

With the development of technology, electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 车

Example Words