千 qiān

千 simplified

千 traditional · same

qiān

thousand · a vast, uncountable many

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笔顺 bǐshùn · Stroke order

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字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

千 was built, in the oracle-bone script, from the graph for a person (人 rén) with a single horizontal stroke drawn across it. The stroke marked the value: one stroke across the person-graph meant one thousand. The system extended: two strokes across the figure could mark two thousand, three strokes three thousand, a compact tally written onto a human form borrowed for its sound, since 人 rén and 千 qiān were close in pronunciation in the old language.

Over time the person-graph at the bottom was simplified, and the modern character settled into three strokes: a short slanting top stroke (撇 piě), a long horizontal, and a vertical descending through it. The conventional radical is 十 (ten), reflecting both the visual form and the natural place of a thousand in the decimal ladder of 十, 百, 千, 万 (ten, hundred, thousand, ten-thousand).

That ladder is worth holding in view. Chinese counts in powers that group differently from English: 十 (ten), 百 (hundred), 千 (thousand), and then 万 (ten-thousand) as a distinct unit, after which large numbers are reckoned in multiples of 万 rather than thousand. 千 is thus the last of the small units before the system shifts its base, the highest order still counted the familiar way.

字形分析 zìxíng fēnxī · Character Analysis 人 · the person-graph at the base, borrowed for its sound (rén ≈ qiān)
一 · the single stroke across it, marking the value "one thousand"
千 · simplified to three strokes; radical 十, sitting in the ladder 十百千万

千的浩大 qiān de hàodà The Poetics of a Thousand — Distance, Time, Multitude

虚数 xūshù · a thousand as "vast" rather than a literal count

In classical and literary Chinese, 千 rarely means exactly one thousand. It is a 虚数 xūshù, a figurative number, used to evoke vastness, distance, or multitude beyond easy counting. When a poet writes 千山 (a thousand mountains) or 千里 (a thousand li), the point is not arithmetic but immensity: ranges without end, a journey beyond the horizon.

Three domains draw on this most. In space, 千里 (a thousand li) is the standard unit of great distance: 千里之行，始于足下 ("a journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet"), the famous line from the Daodejing. In time, 千秋 (a thousand autumns) and 千古 (a thousand antiquities) reach across the ages: 千秋万代 (a thousand autumns, ten thousand generations) means forever, down all the dynasties to come. In multitude, 千 stacks against 万 (ten thousand) in countless paired idioms to mean simply innumerable.

The pairing 千...万... is one of the most productive patterns in the language: 千变万化 (a thousand changes and ten thousand transformations, endlessly varied), 千军万马 (a thousand armies and ten thousand horses, an overwhelming host), 千辛万苦 (a thousand hardships and ten thousand toils, every kind of suffering). In each, the two large numbers together mean "beyond counting," and 千 supplies the first, slightly lesser magnitude against 万's greater one.

核心构词 héxīn gòucí Key 千 Compounds

千里 qiānlǐ a thousand li; a great distance

N 名词 míngcí

千 qiān + 里 lǐ (the Chinese mile). Literally a thousand li, but in practice any great distance. 千里迢迢 qiānlǐ tiáotiáo describes a long, arduous journey from far away. 千里马 qiānlǐmǎ ("thousand-li horse") is a steed that can run a thousand li in a day, hence a person of rare talent, the metaphor at the heart of Han Yu's famous essay on recognizing ability. The Daodejing's 千里之行，始于足下 grounds the whole vast journey in the first single step.

千里之行，始于足下。

Qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià.

A journey of a thousand li begins beneath one's feet.

千秋 qiānqiū a thousand autumns; the ages; eternity

N 名词 míngcí

千 qiān + 秋 qiū (autumn, here standing for a year). A thousand years, hence the long span of history and posterity. 千秋万代 (a thousand autumns, ten thousand generations) means for all time, down all future ages. 名垂千秋 is to have one's name endure through the ages. 各有千秋 gè yǒu qiān qiū ("each has its thousand autumns") means each has its own lasting merits, used to say two things are both excellent in their own way rather than ranking one above the other.

这两幅画各有千秋。

Zhè liǎng fú huà gè yǒu qiānqiū.

These two paintings each have their own lasting merits.

千万 qiānwàn ten million; by all means; absolutely (must / must not)

Num/Adv 数/副

千 qiān (thousand) + 万 wàn (ten-thousand), literally ten million. But its most common use is adverbial and emphatic, urging or warning with great force: 千万要小心 (you absolutely must be careful), 千万别忘了 (whatever you do, don't forget). The piling of two huge numbers conveys the full weight of the speaker's insistence. A high-frequency everyday word with this urging sense.

你千万别告诉他。

Nǐ qiānwàn bié gàosu tā.

Whatever you do, don't tell him.

秋千 qiūqiān a swing (the playground kind)

N 名词 míngcí

秋 qiū + 千 qiān, written 秋千 or 鞦韆. Here 千 is purely phonetic, lending its sound to a word for a swing that has nothing to do with the number. 荡秋千 dàng qiūqiān is to swing on a swing. The word is a reminder that high-frequency characters often serve as sound-borrowings inside ordinary vocabulary, their numeric meaning entirely set aside.

孩子们在公园里荡秋千。

Háizimen zài gōngyuán lǐ dàng qiūqiān.

The children are swinging on the swing in the park.

千古 qiāngǔ through all the ages; eternal; (of the dead) for ever

N 名词 míngcí

千 qiān + 古 gǔ (antiquity; old). All the ages of history, time out of mind. 千古名句 is a line famous through the ages; 千古罪人 (a sinner for all time) is someone whose crime history will never forget. 千古 is also written on funeral wreaths as a respectful farewell to the dead, meaning "for ever," and so carries a solemn, commemorative weight alongside its sense of historical permanence.

这是流传千古的名句。

Zhè shì liúchuán qiāngǔ de míngjù.

This is a famous line that has been passed down through the ages.

成语 chéngyǔ Idioms & Set Phrases

千变万化 qiān biàn wàn huà "a thousand changes, ten thousand transformations" — endlessly changing; infinitely varied 千变 (a thousand changes) and 万化 (ten thousand transformations) together mean change without limit. Used of anything in constant flux: shifting clouds, the turns of fortune, the variety of a skilled performer's repertoire. The 千...万... pattern multiplies the two great numbers to mean simply innumerable, with 千 the lesser magnitude paired against 万's greater.

千军万马 qiān jūn wàn mǎ "a thousand armies, ten thousand horses" — an overwhelming force; a vast host 千军 (a thousand armies) and 万马 (ten thousand horses): a military host so large it cannot be counted. The phrase pictures an unstoppable onrush of force and is applied to any overwhelming mass, an army, a flood of competitors, a tide of demand. 千军万马过独木桥 (a vast host crossing a single-log bridge) is the stock image for fierce competition through one narrow gate, such as the college entrance exam.

千辛万苦 qiān xīn wàn kǔ "a thousand pains, ten thousand toils" — untold hardships; every kind of suffering 千辛 (a thousand bitternesses) and 万苦 (ten thousand toils): hardship piled on hardship beyond counting. Used to describe the immense effort and suffering endured to reach a goal: 历尽千辛万苦 (to have gone through every kind of hardship). The pairing emphasizes that the difficulties were not one or two but innumerable, the full measure of what could be borne.

千钧一发 qiān jūn yī fà "a thousand jun hanging by one hair" — a moment of extreme peril; hanging by a thread 千钧 (a thousand jun, an enormous weight, the 钧 being an ancient heavy measure) suspended by 一发 (a single hair). The image is of a crushing weight held by the thinnest possible thread, an instant of utmost danger in which the slightest thing decides catastrophe or escape. 千钧一发之际 (at the critical hair-trigger moment) marks the razor's edge between disaster and survival. Nine and ten cluster around probability; here 千 supplies sheer crushing magnitude.

记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image

Beneath the modern three strokes is an old picture: a person 人 with a single line drawn across, one stroke meaning one thousand, a value written onto a human figure borrowed for its sound. The character sits in the counting ladder 十百千万, the last unit before the system shifts to a base of ten-thousand.

But the living force of 千 is poetic, not arithmetic. A thousand mountains, a thousand li, a thousand autumns: the number is a 虚数, a figure for vastness too great to count. Above all, hold the pattern 千...万..., where thousand pairs with ten-thousand to mean simply beyond number: 千变万化 endless change, 千军万马 a boundless host, 千辛万苦 untold hardship. When you meet 千 in literature, read it as "countless," not as 1,000.