輕

Phono-semantic compound:

車 (수레 거/차) — semantic component, indicating movement or transport, suggesting motion or weight.

巠 (물줄기 경) — phonetic component, giving the sound qīng / gyeong and connoting “flow, line, or current,” symbolizing smoothness and light movement.

Thus 車 + 巠 → 輕 — “a carriage that moves smoothly and lightly,” hence light in weight, easy to move.

In Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「輕，動也。从車，巠聲。」

“輕 means movement or ease of motion; composed of 車 with phonetic 巠.”

The earliest sense, therefore, referred to light vehicles or effortless motion, later generalized to physical and figurative lightness.

Semantic evolution:

Physical lightness: opposite of heavy (重).

Ease or swiftness: light movement (輕車, “light chariot”).

Moral evaluation: to treat without seriousness or respect (輕視, “to look down on”).

Emotional tone: lighthearted, free, or relaxed (輕快, “cheerful”).

輕重 (경중) — lightness and heaviness; importance and unimportance

輕率 (경솔) — rash; careless

輕薄 (경박) — frivolous; superficial

輕便 (경편) — portable; light and convenient

輕快 (경쾌) — light and cheerful

輕視 (경시) — to look down on; to despise

輕微 (경미) — slight; minor

輕鬆 (경송) — relaxed; easygoing

輕盈 (경잉) — graceful; airy; delicate

Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, vol. 1316):

「輕，薄也。不重也。」

“輕 means thin or insubstantial; not heavy.”

It came to represent lightness in weight, movement, or attitude, and later extended to mental and moral states — from ease and grace to frivolity or rashness.

Book of Han (漢書 · 禮樂志):

「輕車介士，以為前驅。」

“Light chariots and armored men served as the vanguard” — literal sense of light vehicle (輕車).

Mencius (孟子 · 梁惠王下):

「輕千里之馬，而重一食之恩。」

“He lightly values a horse of a thousand li, but greatly esteems a single meal’s favor” — figurative sense: to treat lightly, undervalue.

Zhuangzi (莊子 · 齊物論):

「心若輕雲之逝。」

“Let the mind pass as lightly as drifting clouds” — metaphoric sense: light, free, unburdened.

In classical usage, 輕 was often paired with 重, forming the dichotomy 경중(輕重) — the balance of weight and importance, used both literally and metaphorically (e.g., judging the relative value of actions or persons).

In Confucian ethics, to act 輕 (carelessly or rashly) was a moral fault, contrasted with 重 (seriousness, gravity).

In Daoist literature, however, lightness (輕) is praised as a virtue of natural flow and freedom — 輕舉若雲, “to rise lightly like the clouds.”

In both physical and figurative senses, 輕 expresses the idea of buoyancy and agility — what moves freely because it bears no unnecessary weight.