航 (háng) is a Chinese character meaning “to sail”. It is written from 舟 (boat) and 亢 (high; haughty (used here as the sound part)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to sail; to navigate”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
舟 + 亢
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+822A 与 hanzi-writer-data 现代字形核验（左「舟」6 笔 + 右「亢」4 笔 = 10 笔）；仅为现代字形拆分，不代表历史构形
Memory aid
A boat (舟) holds its head high (亢) and sails out across the water — it is on its voyage.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 航空háng kōngaviation; air (travel)航 = háng
- 航班háng bānflight; scheduled flight or sailing航 = háng
- 宇航员yǔ háng yuánastronaut航 = háng
Go deeper
All readings
to sail; to navigate; to fly
to sail; to navigate (by boat or aircraft); boat; flight
船在水上行驶，也指飞机等在空中飞行。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 航空háng kōngaviation; air (travel)航 = háng
- 航班háng bānflight; scheduled flight or sailing航 = háng
- 宇航员yǔ háng yuánastronaut航 = háng
Sound component
亢 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 航 mean?
航 (háng) means to sail; to navigate (by boat or aircraft); boat; flight.
How do you pronounce 航?
It is pronounced háng.
What parts is 航 made of?
舟 (boat) and 亢 (high; haughty (used here as the sound part)), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+822A 与 hanzi-writer-data 现代字形核验（左「舟」6 笔 + 右「亢」4 笔 = 10 笔）；仅为现代字形拆分，不代表历史构形. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 航 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 航?
舟. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 航?
Common ones are 航空, 航班, 宇航员. The reading of 航 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.