辕 yuán shaft
shaft; axle
How to remember 辕: 车 car + 袁 long robe = shaft. At the museum, a boy calls the wooden cart a car, so a guide in a long robe shows him the horse was tied to the shaft.
Component breakdown
辕 = 车 car + 袁 long robe
- 车 car
- 袁 long robe
At the museum, a boy calls the wooden cart a car, so a guide in a long robe shows him the horse was tied to the shaft.
How it is used
- The 'shafts' of a cart to which the draft animal is hitched - mostly seen in the idiom 南辕北辙 (nányuán-běizhé), pointing the shafts south to head north, i.e. acting in a way that defeats your own goal.