行商 (háng shāng) — (verb) to do business as an itinerant trader, to peddle goods on the road; (noun) itinerant trader, peddler

Definition

An itinerant trader or peddler who travels on foot carrying goods, common in historical/literary contexts. Note 行 is read 'háng' here (business), not 'xíng' (to walk).

verb
to do business as an itinerant trader, to peddle goods on the road
noun
itinerant traderpeddler

Examples

  • 行商。
    Gǔ dài hěn duō shāng rén kào háng shāng wéi shēng.
    In ancient times many merchants made a living by itinerant trading.
  • ，。
    Tā nián qīng shí xíng guò liǎng cì shāng, zǒu le hěn duō dì fāng.
    When he was young, he did itinerant trading twice and traveled to many places.
  • 行商。
    Zhè ge háng shāng měi tiān bēi zhe huò wù zǒu jǐ shí lǐ lù.
    This itinerant trader carries goods on his back and walks dozens of li every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

行xíngtraveling
商shāngtrade

行, going about, and 商, trade, make a peddler doing business on the road.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 商 →

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