辄 (zhé): then; at once

Meanings

1 then; at once
2 always; invariably
3 every time

Characters

辄

zhé

then; always

Examples

动辄得咎。

Dòng zhé dé jiù.

At every turn one is blamed.

饮少辄醉。

Yǐn shǎo zhé zuì.

He drinks little and gets drunk at once.

浅尝辄止。

Qiǎnchángzhézhǐ.

Stop after a brief taste; dabble without going deep.

Tips

register

辄 is classical/literary. Modern Chinese uses 就 for 'then, immediately'. You'll meet 辄 mostly in chengyu like 动辄 (at every turn) and 浅尝辄止 (to dabble), or in classical texts. Don't use it in conversation.

history

Originally 辄 named the upturned end-boards of a chariot box that resembled drooping ears. By the Han dynasty it had been borrowed for the adverbial 'then, immediately', preserved today only in fixed expressions.

Components

radical

车 chē

cart; vehicle

Left cart radical (simplified from 車) - the indexing radical. Pictograph of a cart viewed from above: axle with two wheels. Originally 辄 named the side-boards of a chariot - protective panels always met as you climbed in. From that 'always at the side' image came the adverbial sense 'invariably, every time.'

phonetic

耴 zhé

drooping ear

Right 耴 (ear with a hooked stroke) supplies the sound zhé (exact match). Originally pictured a drooping ear, faintly chiming with the 'always at hand' meaning of 辄 - like an ear, the side-boards stay close to the body. Rare standalone; survives almost exclusively as this phonetic component.