xiá
verb #36,786

Meanings

  1. 1 to govern
  2. 2 to have jurisdiction over
  3. 3 linchpin (literal, archaic)

Examples

Zhège qū xiá wǔ ge jiēdào.
This district has jurisdiction over five subdistricts.
Běn àn bù shǔyú dìfāng fǎyuàn xiá de fànwéi.
This case does not fall within the local court's jurisdiction.

Tips

usage
is mostly a bound form in modern Chinese — you'll meet it in compounds like 管辖 (to have jurisdiction over), 直辖市 (municipality directly under central government, e.g. Beijing), 辖区 (jurisdictional area), (under the jurisdiction of). The original meaning was the linchpin pin that locked a wheel onto an axle, hence 'that which holds something in place / under control'.
memory
The (chē, 'cart') radical recalls the original meaning: the was the metal pin keeping the cart wheel on. From 'pin that controls a wheel' it extended to 'authority that controls an area'.

Stroke Order

xiá