How to Write 軎 (wèi) — Meaning “linchpin”

Imagine a metal pin (韋 looks like a twisted wire or pin) sticking into a wheel (车) to keep it from falling off. The shape of 韋 on the right can be remembered as a twisted fastening tool. This visual helps link the character to the idea of a linchpin.

Write the left radical 车 first (three strokes: horizontal, left-falling, vertical). Then write 韋 on the right, starting with the top horizontal and the vertical center stroke, then the surrounding box and bottom strokes. A common mistake is making the 韦 part too narrow or forgetting the final horizontal stroke at the bottom of 韋.

斩 (zhǎn) means 'to chop' and has a different phonetic component (斤, axe), while 转 (zhuǎn) means 'to turn' and uses 专 as the phonetic part. Visually, 軎 has the full 韋 on the right, whereas 斩 has 斤 under 车, and 转 has 专. Their meanings are unrelated to linchpins.

軎 is a very rare character today, mostly appearing in historical or technical contexts about ancient Chinese vehicles. It is not part of common vocabulary and is not in the HSK lists. You may encounter it in museum descriptions of chariots or in classical literature, but modern Chinese speakers rarely use it.

Common words containing 軎 include: 车軎 (chē wèi) — linchpin (end of an axle); 軎端 (wèi duān) — the end of the linchpin; 铁軎 (tiě wèi) — iron linchpin.