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to transport / luck / motion

yùn
7 strokes · 辶 (walk radical) + 云 (cloud) — movement as drifting clouds · HSK 2

Where 运 comes from

运 (traditional 運) moves 辶 with 云 (cloud) as the sound — and what image could suit motion better than clouds crossing the sky? Transport, circulation, and the turning of fortune all flow from 'movement'.

运 in Chinese culture

运 moves goods and destinies alike: 运动 (sports/exercise — 'movement'), 运气 (luck — the drift of fortune's clouds), 幸运 (fortunate). The Grand Canal is the 大运河, the artery that moved an empire's grain. Before exams, students wear red for 好运 (good luck); the Olympics are the 奥运会. Whether it's cargo, cardio or karma — if it moves, it's 运.

Example

运动 yùndòng — sports / exercise

我每天运动半小时。
Wǒ měitiān yùndòng bàn xiǎoshí.
I exercise half an hour every day.

How to remember it

Clouds 云 on the move 辶 — TRANSPORT, and the drift of LUCK.

运气 'moving qi' = luck: fortune in Chinese is weather — it drifts, it turns, it passes.

Same sound, different tones

2nd yún
cloud
3rd yǔn
to allow
4th yùn
to transport / luck

Words unlocked by 运

运动 yùndòng
sports
运气 yùnqi
luck
幸运 xìngyùn
fortunate
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