闯 (chuǎng): to rush; to charge; to break th…

Meanings

1 to rush; to charge; to break through
2 to temper oneself through experience; to venture out

Characters

闯

chuǎng

to rush; to charge through

门 (door) + 马 (horse) — a horse charging through a door

Examples

他闯红灯了。

Tā chuǎnghónɡdēng le.

He ran a red light.

年轻人应该出去闯一闯。

Niánqīngrén yīnggāi chūqù chuǎng yī chuǎng.

Young people should go out and experience the world.

小偷闯进了我家。

Xiǎotōu chuǎngjìn le wǒjiā.

A thief broke into my house.

他一个人闯荡了十年。

Tā yígè rén chuǎngdàng le shínián.

He ventured out on his own for ten years.

Tips

usage

闯 has two main uses: (1) to rush/barge through something (闯红灯 = run a red light, 闯进 = barge in); (2) to venture out and build experience (闯荡 = venture out into the world, 闯出名堂 = make a name for oneself).

memory

The character has 门 (door) with 马 (horse) inside — a horse charging through a door. This vividly captures the meaning of rushing through barriers.

Components

radical

门 mén

gate; door

Outer gate radical — frames the entire character. Pictures the two leaves of a gate, simplified from the traditional 門 with its full hinged double-doors. Marks 闯 as a gate-action verb: bursting through a doorway, charging in, entering forcefully. Family: 间 (interval), 闭 (close), 问 (ask).

semantic

马 mǎ

horse

Inside the gate: a horse 马 bursting through. The whole character is a vivid compound ideograph — a horse charging out the doorway. From that picture come the modern senses: rush, charge, break through, and figuratively 'venture into the world to test oneself' (出去闯一闯).