乘

乘 is originally a pictographic-ideographic form that depicts a person mounted on a wooden structure, likely a tree or vehicle — representing the idea of riding or being borne upon something.

Upper part: 大 (“person standing with arms and legs spread”) — representing a human figure.

Lower part: 木 (“tree”) — symbolizing support or a structure beneath.

Together they show a person standing upon a wooden platform — hence the meaning “to mount.”

Some early variants included 舛 (“two feet”) beneath the person, reinforcing the imagery of a man firmly standing or stepping upon something.

Other archaic forms incorporated 車 (“cart”) to emphasize the act of riding a chariot.

乘馬 (승마) — horseback riding

搭乘 (탑승) — to board (a plane, train)

乘機 (승기) — to seize an opportunity

乘法 (승법) — multiplication

In Classical literature, 乘 often carried figurative meanings such as “to ascend by chance,” “to rise with the times,” or “to exploit the current.”

For example:

「君子乘時而行」 — “The noble man acts by riding the tide of his times.”

Here, 乘 represents harmony with opportunity and destiny, much like “to ride the wind” in English idiom.

In mathematical and philosophical contexts, 乘 came to mean multiplication — the idea of building upon or adding layers of value, continuing the metaphor of one thing riding upon another.

In warfare or statecraft texts, 乘勢 (승세) — “riding momentum” — refers to leveraging favorable circumstances.

Linguistic notes:

This character is a multi-tone word in Classical Chinese:

chéng (平聲) — “to ride; to take advantage of; to multiply.”

shèng (去聲) — a classifier for chariots drawn by four horses (one 乘 = one carriage).

Interestingly, some scholars suggest that 乘 may have been borrowed into Old Chinese from Tocharian A/B, where klänk / klenke mean “to ride” or “to travel.”

This borrowing, if accurate, reflects one of the few known cases of Indo-European → Sinitic lexical influence.