征 (zhēng): journey, trip, expedition

征 (zhēng) is a Chinese character meaning “journey.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彳 (semantic) and 正 (phonetic). It ranks #739 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 征 step. Its radical form 彳 (step) appears in many related characters such as 很 (hěn, very), 得 (dé, to obtain), 往 (wǎng, to go (in a direction)).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. journey
  2. trip
  3. expedition

Etymology & Origin

征

pictophoneticstep

Decomposition: ⿰彳正 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 征

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
象征verb/nounxiàng zhēngsymbol5
特征nountè zhēngcharacteristic5
征求verbzhēng qiúto solicit6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
征服verbzhēng fúto conquer
征兆nounzhēng zhàoomen
综合征nounzōng hé zhēngsyndrome
应征verbyìng zhēngto apply (for a job)
征召verbzhēng zhàoto enlist
远征nounyuǎn zhēngan expedition, esp. military
征兵verbzhēng bīngto levy troops
象征性nounxiàng zhēng xìngsymbolic
征用verbzhēng yòngto expropriate
出征verbchū zhēngto go into battle
征战verbzhēng zhàncampaign
征途nounzhēng túlong journey
征程nounzhēng chéngjourney
征询verbzhēng xúnto consult
征集verbzhēng jíto collect
100
Total compounds
49
As first character
35
As last character
16
As middle character

征 appears in 100 compound words: 49 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 16 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 征 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

氏shì
0.55834 co-occurrences
服fú
0.54732,544 co-occurrences
特tè
0.52960,400 co-occurrences
税shuì
0.5084,732 co-occurrences
远yuǎn
0.5048,542 co-occurrences
象xiàng
0.49727,922 co-occurrences
唐táng
0.49426 co-occurrences
综zōng
0.4892,988 co-occurrences
讨tǎo
0.4734,074 co-occurrences
伐fá
0.4664,310 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

本征向量běnzhēng xiàngliàngHSK 5+

Alternative name for 特徵向量/特征向量 (tèzhēng xiàngliàng, “eigenvector”).

noun
东讨西征dōng tǎo xī zhēngHSK 5+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
东征西讨dōng zhēng xī tǎoHSK 5+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
东征西怨dōng zhēng xī yuànHSK 5+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
横征暴敛héng zhēng bào liǎnHSK 7+

to tax by force and extort levies (idiom); to screw taxes out of the people by force

phrase
南征北伐nán zhēng běi fáHSK 7+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
南征北讨nán zhēng běi tǎoHSK 5+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
南征北战nán zhēng běi zhànHSK 5+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
御驾亲征yùjiàqīnzhēngHSK 7+

military expedition commanded by the emperor in person

noun
征名责实zhēng míng zé shíHSK 5+

to seek out the real nature based on the name (idiom); to judge sth at face value

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了征字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le zhēng zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "征" in the dictionary.

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

中方抨滥征税 势触新诉讼

zhōng fāng pēng làn zhēng shuì shì chù xīn sù sòng

China criticizes excessive taxation and is bound to lead to new lawsuits

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

特朗普向全球加征关税至15% 回应最高院判决 另引例实施...

tè lǎng pǔ xiàng quán qiú jiā zhēng guān shuì zhì 1 5 huí yīng zuì gāo yuàn pàn jué lìng yǐn lì shí shī . . .

Trump imposed tariffs on the world to 15% in response to the Supreme Court's ruling and implemented it as an example...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

川普:加征15%关税立即生效 全球贸易重返不确定性...

chuān pǔ : jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì lì jí shēng xiào quán qiú mào yì chóng fǎn bù què dìng xìng . . .

Trump: The 15% tariff will take effect immediately Global trade returns to uncertainty...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

川普全球加征15%关税 专家:“B计画”也无法律基础

chuān pǔ quán qiú jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì zhuān jiā : B jì huà yě wú fǎ lǜ jī chǔ

Trump imposes 15% tariffs globally Expert: "Plan B" also has no legal basis

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

川普:加征15%关税 各国审慎 估不会撤销与美协议

chuān pǔ : jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì gè guó shěn shèn gū bù huì chè xiāo yǔ měi xié yì

Trump: Impose 15% tariffs Countries are prudent not to withdraw the agreement with the United States

Tatoeba

魅力冲击视觉,美德征服心灵。

Mèilì chōngjī shìjué, měidé zhēngfú xīnlíng.

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.

Tatoeba

乌云是下雨的征兆。

Wūyún shì xiàyǔ de zhēngzhào.

Dark clouds are a sign of rain.

Tatoeba

我去了公共游泳池应征当救生员。

Wǒqù le gōnggòng yóuyǒngchí yìngzhēng dāng jiùshēngyuán.

I applied for a job as a lifeguard at the community pool.

Tatoeba

我会把它看作一个征兆。

Wǒ huì bǎ tā kànzuò yī gè zhēngzhào.

I'd take it as a sign.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 彳 (step) component

彳 Radical Family — Characters sharing the step radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhēng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 征 (zhēng) mean in Chinese?
征 (zhēng) primarily means "journey." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #739 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 征 have?
征 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 征?
The radical associated with 征 is 彳 (step). This radical appears in many characters related to step.
What are the components of 征?
征 is composed of: 彳 (semantic), 正 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰彳正 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 征?
Common words with 征 include: 征服 (zhēng fú, "to conquer"); 象征 (xiàng zhēng, "symbol"); 特征 (tè zhēng, "characteristic"); 征兆 (zhēng zhào, "omen"); 征求 (zhēng qiú, "to solicit"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 征 (zhēng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhēng: 政 (political), 整 ((bound form) whole), 症 (symptom), 正 (straight), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 征 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 征 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 征 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.