Chinese character for horse: 马 (mǎ)
The Chinese character for horse is 马 (mǎ). It means horse and is the seventh animal of the Chinese zodiac. It appears in 马上 (mǎshàng, right away, literally 'on horseback') and 骑马 (qí mǎ, to ride a horse).
How 马 is built
The traditional form 馬 is a pictograph of a horse standing on its side: the top shows the head and flowing mane, and the four dots at the bottom are the legs, or the tail and legs. The simplified form 马 is a short cursive version of the same shape. As a part of other characters it marks horses and riding, as in 骑 (to ride) and 驾 (to drive). It also gives the sound in 妈 (mother).
马 mǎ · horse
- 一 — horizontal stroke
Origin hint: Simplified form of 馬, a horse galloping to the left (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 马 is used
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: Traditional 馬 shows the legs and mane clearly and is popular in art; simplified 马 is the modern everyday form.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for horse?
马 (mǎ) means “horse”. In traditional characters it is written 馬.
How do you pronounce 马?
马 is pronounced mǎ.
Is 马 simplified or traditional?
马 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore; 馬 is the traditional form used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.