争 (zhēng): to compete

Meanings

1 to compete
2 to argue
3 to strive

Characters

争

zhēng

to compete; to argue

Depicts two hands pulling at something — a visual representation of competition.

Examples

他们在争谁去。

Tāmen zài zhēng shéi qù.

They are arguing about who goes.

不要争了。

Búyào zhēng le.

Stop arguing.

时间不等人，我们要争分夺秒。

Shíjiān bù děng rén, wǒmen yào zhēngfēn-duómiǎo.

Time waits for no one, we must fight for every second.

Tips

usage

争 is a building block for many words: 争取 (strive for), 竞争 (compete), 争论 (debate), 战争 (war).

Components

semantic

⺈ dāo

claw; clawing hand (top form)

Top ⺈ is the clawing-hand top — a contracted form of 爪, a hand reaching down with fingers spread. In 争 it pictures the upper grasping hand pulling at the contested object below. Same top appears in 受 to receive (hand passing down), 爱 love (originally a hand giving heart). Pure semantic — supplies no sound.

semantic

彐 jì

snout; gripping hand (graphic)

Middle 彐 here functions as a second hand reaching upward — the lower grasper. Two hands, one above and one below, both pulling at the same object: the textbook compound-ideograph image of competition. 彐 elsewhere appears as a snout or pig-head stroke (in 雪, 寻); here it's a hand-shape reused.

ideograph

亅 jué

vertical hook stroke

Bottom-piercing vertical hook is the contested object — the thing both hands are tugging at. With the two hand-shapes above, the whole picture is two parties pulling at one stick: zero-sum struggle, hence 'compete, contend, fight over.' Indexed under Kangxi #6 亅 (jué, hook) by tradition via this very hook-stroke at the base.