迁 (qiān) is a Chinese character meaning “to move (to another place)”. It is written from 辶 (walk; go — the "movement" radical (chuò)) and 千 (thousand), one enclosing the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “to move; to relocate”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
辶 + 千
Enclosing structure
Structure from: IDS 拆分 ⿺辶千，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「千」（撇、横、竖），笔画 3–5 为「辶」（点、横折折撇、平捺）
Memory aid
The road radical 辶 carries a thousand (千) things down the road — everything you own is on the move.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 迁移qiān yíto migrate; to move (from one place to another)迁 = qiān
- 搬迁bān qiānto relocate; to move house or premises迁 = qiān
- 乔迁qiáo qiānto move to a better home or a higher position (congratulatory)迁 = qiān
- 拆迁chāi qiānto demolish buildings and relocate the residents迁 = qiān
- 迁徙qiān xǐto migrate; to move to another place迁 = qiān
Go deeper
All readings
to move; to relocate
to move (to another place); to relocate; to shift; to change
从一个地方搬到另一个地方；转变、变换。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 迁移qiān yíto migrate; to move (from one place to another)迁 = qiān
- 搬迁bān qiānto relocate; to move house or premises迁 = qiān
- 乔迁qiáo qiānto move to a better home or a higher position (congratulatory)迁 = qiān
- 拆迁chāi qiānto demolish buildings and relocate the residents迁 = qiān
- 迁徙qiān xǐto migrate; to move to another place迁 = qiān
Sound component
千 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 迁 mean?
迁 (qiān) means to move (to another place); to relocate; to shift; to change.
How do you pronounce 迁?
It is pronounced qiān.
What parts is 迁 made of?
辶 (walk; go — the "movement" radical (chuò)) and 千 (thousand), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: IDS 拆分 ⿺辶千，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「千」（撇、横、竖），笔画 3–5 为「辶」（点、横折折撇、平捺）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 迁 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 迁?
辶. 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 迁?
Common ones are 迁移 and 搬迁. The reading of 迁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.