衡 (héng): to weigh, weight, measure

衡 (héng) is a Chinese character meaning “to weigh.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 行 (structural), 角 (structural) and 大 (structural). It ranks #1332 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 衡 a big 大 horn 角; 行 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 行 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 行 (xíng, to walk), 街 (jiē, street), 衍 (yǎn, to spread out).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to weigh
  2. weight
  3. measure

Etymology & Origin

衡

ideographicA big 大 horn 角; 行 provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿻行⿱角大 (layout: overlay)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Practice writing 衡 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 衡

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
平衡adjective/verbpíng héngbalance5
衡量verbhéng liángto weigh6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
权衡verbquán héngto consider
抗衡verbkàng héngto compete with
均衡adjectivejūn héngequal
平衡木nounpíng héng mùbeam (gymnastics)
失衡verbshī héngto unbalance
制衡verbzhì héngto check and balance (power)
度量衡noundù liàng héngmeasurement
衡山proper-nounhéng shānMt Heng in Hunan, southern mountain of the Five Sacred Mountains 五嶽|五岳
收支平衡点nounshōu zhī píng héng diǎnbreak-even point
分权制衡fēn quán zhì héngseparation of powers for checks and balances
不平衡bù píng héngdisequilibrium
热动平衡rè dòng píng héngthermodynamic equilibrium
动平衡dòng píng héngdynamic equilibrium
常衡制cháng héng zhìAvoirdupois Weight, a system of weights based on the 16-ounce pound (or 7,000 grains)
静力平衡jìng lì píng héngstatic equilibrium
50
Total compounds
32
As first character
48
As last character
20
As middle character

衡 appears in 50 compound words: 32 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 20 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 衡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

罐guàn
0.59011 co-occurrences
平píng
0.53141,264 co-occurrences
阳yáng
0.4976,860 co-occurrences
量liàng
0.45111,418 co-occurrences
均jūn
0.4456,324 co-occurrences
抗kàng
0.4185,328 co-occurrences
秉bǐng
0.381418 co-occurrences
失shī
0.3743,180 co-occurrences
仲zhòng
0.373782 co-occurrences
态tài
0.3641,200 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

静力平衡jìng lì píng héngHSK 5+

static equilibrium

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我们要平衡工作和生活,不能只顾一方面。

Wǒmen yào pínghéng gōngzuò hé shēnghuó, bùnéng zhǐ gù yī fāngmiàn.

We need to balance work and life; we can't focus on just one aspect.

99 健康网Mar 2026

...氏综合征孩子可生么?易位型可能来自父母平衡易位携带吗

. . . shì zèng gě zhēng hái zǐ kě shēng má ? yì wèi xíng kě néng lái zì fù mǔ píng héng yì wèi xié dài ma

... Can I have a child with Syndrome? Can translocation come from parental balanced translocation?

99 健康网Mar 2026

元宵节吃什么蔬菜?时令搭配营养更均衡

yuán xiāo jié chī shén má shū cài ? shí lìng dā pèi yíng yǎng gēng jūn héng

What vegetables should you eat on the Lantern Festival? Seasonal pairings provide a more balanced diet.

NewsFeb 2026

美银预期月底再平衡资金流将利好美元

měi yín yù qī yuè de zài píng héng zī jīn liú jiāng lì hǎo měi yuán

Bank of America expects rebalancing flows at the end of the month to be positive for the dollar

NewsFeb 2026

联储局穆萨莱姆:目前货币政策适当地平衡风险

lián chǔ jú mù sà 莱 mǔ mù qián huò bì zhèng cè shì dāng dì píng héng fēng xiǎn

Fed Musalem: Monetary policy is currently balancing risks appropriately

StheadlineFeb 2026

...「好玩城市」 擺脫罐頭式設計 反思痛點平衡營運壓力

. . . hǎo wán chéng shì 擺 脫 guàn 頭 shì 設 計 fǎn sī tòng 點 píng héng 營 運 壓 lì

[Translation pending - quota exceeded]

Tatoeba

他失去了平衡,从梯子上摔了下来。

Tā shīqù le pínghéng, cóng tīzi shàng shuāi le xiàlai.

He lost his balance and fell off the ladder.

Tatoeba

蔬果对平衡饮食必不可少。

Shūguǒ duì pínghéng yǐnshí bìbùkěshǎo.

Fruits and vegetables are essential to a balanced diet.

Tatoeba

那艘船失去平衡,翻了过来。

Nà sōu chuán shīqù pínghéng, fān le guòlai.

The ship keeled over and capsized.

Tatoeba

他设法使收支平衡。

Tā shèfǎ shǐ shōuzhī pínghéng.

He managed to make both ends meet.

Character Family

行 Radical Family — Characters sharing the walk radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced héng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 衡 (héng) mean in Chinese?
衡 (héng) primarily means "to weigh." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1332 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 衡 have?
衡 is written with 16 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 衡?
The radical associated with 衡 is 行 (walk). This radical appears in many characters related to walk.
What are the components of 衡?
衡 is composed of: 行 (structural), 角 (structural), 大 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿻行⿱角大 with a overlay layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 衡?
Common words with 衡 include: 平衡 (píng héng, "balance"); 衡量 (héng liáng, "to weigh"); 权衡 (quán héng, "to consider"); 抗衡 (kàng héng, "to compete with"); 均衡 (jūn héng, "equal"). There are over 50 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 衡 (héng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation héng: 横 (horizontal), 恒 (permanent), 哼 (to groan). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 衡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 衡 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 衡 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.