zhēng
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 numerous; the multitude (the common people)
  2. 2 to rise (of steam); archaic variant of 蒸

Examples

Zhēng
The teeming common people all hope for a good harvest.
Zhēng
Hot air rises upward, the old sense shared with the steam character.

Tips

history
Read zhēng, classically means numerous, hence , the teeming common people. It is also an old form of (to steam, to rise), the fire element marking heat below.

Components

radical
huǒ
fire
is the fire radical in bottom form. The four dots are flames beneath, giving the heat that makes steam rise upward.
phonetic
chéng
to assist; to rise up
sits on top and supplies the sound, shifted from chéng to zhēng. Its old sense of lifting up faintly matches the rising-steam meaning.

Stroke Order

zhēng