How to Write 载 (zǎi/zài) — Meaning “To carry; to load; year”

Imagine a car (车) driving through a field of crops, with the top part 𛅤 looking like a stack of hay on the roof. The lower part of 𛅤 resembles wheels or a base, so you can picture the car "carrying" the load. This visual helps link the left side (vehicle) and right side (load/year) to the character’s meaning of carrying or loading.

The left radical 车 must be written with the vertical stroke as the third stroke, not the second — common mistake is making it too wide. The right side 𛅤 has a top part that is not 戈: write the horizontal stroke first, then the left-falling stroke, then the hook, and finish with the dot at the lower right. Keep the whole character balanced; the left side is narrower than the right side.

载 uses the vehicle radical 车 on the left and means "to carry" or "year," while 斩 (zhǎn) has 车 on the left with 斤 (axe) on the right, meaning "to chop" or "behead" — a violent action. 軎 (wèi) is a very rare character with 车 on the left and 𛅤 on the right (same as 载), but it means "axle cap" of a wheel, not carrying. Visually, 斩 uses 斤 (radical for axe) instead of 𛅤, and 軎 has a different structure on the right that is not commonly used.

载 appears in words like 载重 (load capacity) for trucks, 载货 (cargo transport) in logistics, and 记载 (to record) for historical documents — showing its two main meanings of physical carrying and recording (like "carrying" information). Culturally, 载 also appears in the idiom 千载难逢 (once in a thousand years), meaning a very rare opportunity, using the "year" meaning. It is an HSK 4 character, so you will meet it in intermediate reading about transportation and history.

Common words containing 载 include: 载重 (zài zhòng) — Load capacity; carrying weight; 载货 (zài huò) — To carry goods; cargo; 记载 (jì zǎi) — To record / Written record.