遷 means “move, transition, shift”

せん · sen

Also: change

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

うつる, うつす, みやこがえ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 15 strokes

The story

Walking (辶) with everything piled on top (覀, 大 and 己): moving on a grand scale. 遷都 is moving the capital, as to Kyoto in 794; Ise's gods move to a rebuilt shrine every 20 years; and 左遷, 'moving left', is a demotion.

Used in 変遷 (hensen, changes over time), 左遷 (sasen, demotion), and 遷都 (sento, moving the capital)

More from Routes & Returns

• 遡 go upstream
• 臨 face
• 還 return
• 至 reach
• 滞 stagnate
• 沿 run along
• 巡 go around
• 往 go
• 軌 track
• 逸 deviate
• 搬 carry
• 循 circulate

Learn 遷 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.