Characters

Words

Vocabulary

In China, 干 is used as the simplified form of 乾 (meaning “dry”).
However, 干 is only used for the meaning “to dry,” whereas the meaning “heaven” still uses the full form 乾, pronounced qián.
It is also used as the simplified form of 幹 (meaning “stem” or “main part”).

According to Shuowen Jiezi, the character is a compound ideograph formed from an upside-down 入 and a horizontal stroke 一, symbolizing the meaning “to commit a crime.”
There are also interpretations that see it as a pictograph of a weapon and shield.
Historically, together with the twelve earthly branches (地支 dìzhī), it formed the Ganzhi (干支 gānzhǐ) system used to count days and years — see also the ten heavenly stems (天干 tiāngān).

#43 — lame, crippled, person with a leg disability

#44 — corpse, dead body, a living person who represents the dead person during a rite

#45 — left hand, to sprout

#46 — mountain, grave

#47 — a stream where water flows, river, brook

#48 — master craftsman, master artisan, tool, to make, to build

#49 — self, ego, body

#50 — towel, cloth

#51 — shield, dry, to violate, to interfere

#52 — tiny, minute, young, or something like that

#53 — house built to depend on a cliff, wide

#54 — to stride, going a long distance

#55 — to hold up with both hands

#56 — a stake, a wooden post

#57 — bow (for shooting arrows)

#58 — pig head/snout

#59 — hair

Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

干

Etymology

Additional notes

Characters with 干

Neighboring radicals in the dictionary

References