流行
liúxíng · HSK 2
popular
🌊 流 = flow + 行 = go; what flows and goes around = trending
流 means flow/current and 行 means to go or circulate. Together, 流行 literally describes something that flows and travels through society — i.e. is widespread, popular, or in vogue, like a trend moving through a crowd.
流 — water radical 氵 + 㐬 (phonetic, child being born)
流 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, while 㐬 depicts an infant being born head-down with amniotic fluid, suggesting downward flow. Together they convey water flowing, and by extension 'to flow' or 'current'.
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.