侠 (xiá): knight-errant, brave and chivalrous, hero

侠 (xiá) is a Chinese character meaning “knight-errant.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 夹 (phonetic). It ranks #1211 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 侠 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 亻 person8 strokesFrequency #1211亻 semantic 夹 phonetic

Definitions

knight-errant
brave and chivalrous
hero

Etymology & Origin

侠

pictophoneticperson

Decomposition: ⿰亻夹 (layout: left-right)

Components:亻semantic 夹phonetic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
大侠noun	dà xiá	knight
游侠noun	yóu xiá	knight-errant
独行侠noun	dú xíng xiá	loner
侠客noun	xiá kè	chivalrous person
水行侠	shuǐ xíng xiá	Aquaman, DC comic book superhero (Tw)
侠义adjective	xiá yì	chivalrous
武侠noun	wǔ xiá	martial arts chivalry (Chinese literary, theatrical and cinema genre)
武侠小说	wǔ xiá xiǎo shuō	a martial arts (wuxia) novel
三侠五义	sān xiá wǔ yì	Sanxia wuyi (lit. Three knight-errants and five righteous one), novel edited from stories of late Qing dynasty pinghu...
任侠noun	rèn xiá	chivalrous
侠气	xiá qì	chivalry
行侠仗义phrase	xíng xiá zhàng yì	to be chivalrous
侠士noun	xiá shì	knight-errant
侠盗飞车	xiá dào fēi chē	Grand Theft Auto (video game series)
游侠骑士	yóu xiá qí shì	a knight-errant

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

侠 appears in 24 compound words: 25 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 25 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 侠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

蜘zhī

0.6321,160 co-occurrences

蛛zhū

0.6151,156 co-occurrences

盗dào

0.519740 co-occurrences

剑jiàn

0.511882 co-occurrences

猎liè

0.494522 co-occurrences

仙xiān

0.460928 co-occurrences

武wǔ

0.4462,272 co-occurrences

侣lǚ

0.443156 co-occurrences

闪shǎn

0.439182 co-occurrences

奇qí

0.4331,486 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

武侠小说wǔ xiá xiǎo shuōHSK 7+

a martial arts (wuxia) novel

phrase

行侠仗义xíngxiázhàngyìHSK 7+

to be chivalrous; to have a sense of justice and be willing to help others

phrase

Showing 2 of 3 idioms containing 侠.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

作为侠民，我们有责任保护环境。

zuò wéi xiá mín , wǒ men yǒu zé rèn bǎo hù huán jìng .

As citizens, we have a responsibility to protect the environment.

RfiFeb 2026

中国人大常委会会议闭幕:张又侠暂未被罢免

zhōng guó rén dà cháng wěi huì huì yì bì mù : zhāng yòu xiá zàn wèi bèi bà miǎn

The meeting of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National Congress closed: Zhang Youxia has not been dismissed for the time being

Google NewsFeb 2026

中国武侠MMORPG‘新・天上碑’二次神器装备“...

zhōng guó wǔ xiá M M O R P G xīn tiān shàng bēi èr cì shén qì zhuāng bèi . . .

Chinese martial arts MMORPG 'New Heavenly Monument' secondary artifact equipment"...

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

铠侠控股(285A.JP)全日跌逾3.6% ...

铠 xiá kòng gǔ ( 2 8 5 A . J P ) quán rì diē yú 3 . 6 . . .

Kioxia Holdings (285A. JP) fell more than 3.6% throughout the day...

LtnFeb 2026

张又侠落马影响中国战备?沈有忠:短期内大规模武...

zhāng yòu xiá luò mǎ yǐng xiǎng zhōng guó zhàn bèi ? 沈 yǒu zhōng : duǎn qī nèi dà guī mó wǔ . . .

Zhang Youxia's fall affects China's combat readiness? Shen Youzhong: In the short term, large-scale martial arts...

Tatoeba

与此同时江琴分散了江枫的哥哥燕大侠的注意力。

Yǔ cǐ tóngshí Jiāng Qín fēnsàn le Jiāng Fēng de gēge Yàn Dàxiá de zhùyìlì.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin distracted Jiang Feng's older brother Yan Daxia.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 侠 (xiá) mean in Chinese?

侠 (xiá) primarily means "knight-errant." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1211 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 侠 and 惬?

侠 (xiá) and 惬 (qiè) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 亻 vs 忄 (same 夹 component).

How many strokes does 侠 have?

侠 is written with 8 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 侠?

The radical associated with 侠 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.

What are the components of 侠?

侠 is composed of: 亻 (semantic), 夹 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻夹 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 侠?

Common words with 侠 include: 大侠 (dà xiá, "knight"); 游侠 (yóu xiá, "knight-errant"); 独行侠 (dú xíng xiá, "loner"); 侠客 (xiá kè, "chivalrous person"); 水行侠 (shuǐ xíng xiá, "Aquaman, DC comic book superhero (Tw)"). There are over 24 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 侠 (xiá)?

Several characters share the pronunciation xiá: 狭 (narrow), 下 (down), 夏 (the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC), 吓 (to scare), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 侠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 侠 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 侠 with real-time feedback

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

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play