趨 (qū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

趨

qū[qu1]Tone 1

to hasten, to hurry, to tend towards

HSK 4

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趋

Guru Deep Dive

English · to hasten, to hurry, to tend towards

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (走chui or walking radical) should flow smoothly, while the right side (蒆/刍 complex component) must remain compact and balanced to prevent the character from looking overly stretched.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 趨 by streamlining the right-hand component into standard modern brush strokes.

1. Meaning

to hasten, to hurry, to walk fast, to approach, to tend towards

to convergetrend, tendency

Verb / NounFormal / Literary#movement#direction#abstract tendency

Sample Usage

时代在迅速趋同。
Shídài zài xùnsù qūtóng.
The times are rapidly converging.
大势所趋，不可阻挡。
Dàshì suǒ qū, bùkě zǔdǎng.
It is the trend of the times and cannot be stopped.

2. Sound

/[tɕʰy⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

趨

qūqu1

¯(55)

=qū

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: ch sound produced with tongue pressed against lower teeth (alveolo-palatal affricate)

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Extremely strong burst of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue rises toward the hard palate while the tip rests behind the lower front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -v vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound with rounded lips (French 'u')

Note: Written as 'u', pronounced as rounded 'ü' [y].

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ü'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 stays flat and high at the top of your vocal range, like a musical note held steadily.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing 'qū' with 'chū' (chū has a retroflex initial) or 'jū' (jū is unaspirated). Remember 'q' is strongly aspirated.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat, unchanging horizon line made with your hand, reflecting a steady, unwavering high pitch.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 趨 by streamlining the right-hand component into standard modern brush strokes.

4. Components

Radical 走 · Walking Radical (movement, walking, running)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 走 (Indicates movement and traveling)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 刍 (original sound: qú)

A person walking (走) in the direction of forage or a goal (刍), hastening forward with purpose.

走 walking, movement
刍 phonetic clue and representation of gathering/harvesting

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

7· Phonetic Root: 芻 ()

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the 'walking' radical (走) with a phonetic element indicating sound and direction (刍), depicting quick movement towards a destination.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from physical fast walking/running to abstract concepts of approaching, tending towards, or converging over time.

Often used in classical Chinese texts to describe armies marching or people hastening to court.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

khu

Corresponds to the level or oblique tone structures in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: シュウ (shū) / Kun: おもむく (omomuku)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

추

Sound Shift Bridge: Cognates across East Asian Sinosphere share the root sound 'qu' / 'shu' / 'chu'.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You are WALKING (走) fast like a racehorse, CHEWING (刍) on an energy bar as you HASTEN (qū) to approach the finish line.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

趋

qūto hastenBase character with walking radical

驺

zōugroom, stablemanReplaces walking radical with horse radical (马)

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

区(qū)

区 means district/area and lacks the walking radical (走) found on the left of 趋.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

噹前的技術發展正[___]成熟。

Clue: qū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left walking radical with other movement radicals like 辵 (辶) or forgetting the strong aspiration of the initial 'q'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 趋, what is its primary meaning of movement and how is it pronounced with Tone 1?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to tend towards' (qū) using the walking radical and phonetic component?

趨qūto hasten, to hurry, to tend towards

Speed:

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