轻 (qīng) is a Chinese character meaning “light (in weight)”. It is written from 车 (vehicle; cart) and 圣 (sage; holy), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “light (not heavy)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
车 + 圣
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+8F7B 现代字形与 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺核验（9 画 = 车 4 画 + 圣 5 画）；繁体 輕 见 说文解字·车部「輕，輕車也。从車巠聲」，简化后右旁「巠」改写为记号「圣」
Memory aid
A cart (车) pulled by a sage (圣) carries no load at all — it rolls away light.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 轻松qīng sōngrelaxed; easy; light轻 = qīngHSK 3
- 年轻nián qīngyoung轻 = qīngHSK 2
Go deeper
All readings
light
light (in weight); slight; gentle; easy; to take lightly
分量小，和「重」相对；也指程度浅、不费力、不庄重。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 轻松qīng sōngrelaxed; easy; light轻 = qīngHSK 3
- 年轻nián qīngyoung轻 = qīngHSK 2
Origin
The traditional form 輕 is analysed in the Shuowen Jiezi as "a light cart — from 車 (cart), with 巠 giving the sound". In the simplified 轻, 車 is written 车, but the old sound part 巠 was replaced by the shorthand shape 圣, which here gives neither the sound nor the meaning.
Source: 说文解字·车部：輕，輕車也。从車巠聲
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 轻 mean?
轻 (qīng) means light (in weight); slight; gentle; easy; to take lightly.
How do you pronounce 轻?
It is pronounced qīng.
What parts is 轻 made of?
车 (vehicle; cart) and 圣 (sage; holy), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+8F7B 现代字形与 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺核验（9 画 = 车 4 画 + 圣 5 画）；繁体 輕 见 说文解字·车部「輕，輕車也。从車巠聲」，简化后右旁「巠」改写为记号「圣」. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 轻 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 轻?
车. 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 轻?
Common ones are 轻松 and 年轻. The reading of 轻 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.