政

zhèng
noun #14,687

Meanings

  1. 1 politics; political affairs
  2. 2 government

Examples

HSK 5
Tā duì zhèngzhì fēicháng gǎn xìngqù.
He is very interested in politics.
HSK 6
Xīn zhèngfǔ xuānbù le yī xìliè gǎigé cuòshī.
The new government has announced a series of reforms.
HSK 6
Zhè xiàng zhèngcè xūyào jìnyíbù wánshàn.
This policy needs further refinement.

Tips

memory
正 (correct) + 攵 (action) - correct governance enforced through action.

Components

radical
攵 pū
to tap; to strike
Right 攵 - a hand holding a stick to compel action, the rap radical. Indexes 政 in the active-administration family (改 to reform, 教 to instruct, 敕 imperial edict). Together with 正 the picture is: enforcing correctness with the rod of authority - the original meaning of 政 government.
phonetic
正 zhèng
upright; correct
Left 正 - a foot stopping at a marked line, meaning correctness and proper alignment. Supplies the sound zhèng directly with no shift and pulls in the meaning: governing is the business of keeping things upright and orderly. Same phonetic in 整 to arrange, 征 to levy - all carrying the rightness flavour.

Stroke Order

政 zhèng