乘

chéng

ride, ascend; avail oneself of; classifier for vehicles

Meaning

  • Mount or ascend: moving from a lower to a higher position.
  • Ride: being carried by an animal or vehicle; boarding transport.
  • Avail oneself of / seize: utilizing an abstract force, circumstance, time, or momentum (e.g., "taking advantage of the wind").
  • Multiplication: in mathematical contexts, denoting repeated addition or layering.

Grammar and usage

  • Transitive Verb: Takes a vehicle or an opportunity/circumstance as its direct object.
  • Classifier: Follows a numeral to denote units of chariots or carriages (inclusive of the accompanying horse team).
  • Adverbial Construction: Used in phrases where "taking advantage of [X]" sets the condition for a subsequent action.

Distinctions

  • Contrast with 登: Both can denote ascending or mounting.
  • Contrast with 騎: While 騎 specifically denotes riding astride (such as a horse), 乘 is a broader term for general transport and boarding.

History and forms

  • Fanqie reading: 食陵 / 實證
  • Tang-period reading: jhiəng jhiə̀ng

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.