出行
chū xíng · HSK 6
to set out on a long journey
🚶🧳 出 = exit/go out + 行 = walk/travel; literally 'go out and travel'
出 means to exit or go out, and 行 means to walk or travel. Together 出行 is the act of heading out on a trip — setting out from home to journey afar.
出 — foot 止 emerging from enclosure 凵
出 is a pictograph showing a foot or plant stepping out of a hollow or enclosure, depicting the act of going forth. The original sense of 'coming out' or 'emerging' has remained stable since oracle bone script. It now broadly means 'to exit, go out, or produce.'
行 — crossroads pictograph (left 彳 + right 亍)
行 originally pictured a four-way crossroads in oracle bone script, with two paths meeting. From 'road' it extended to 'walk, go, travel,' and then to 'a row, line' or 'business firm' (read háng). The two halves 彳 and 亍 are the split sides of that ancient crossroads.