漢
Sino-, China
Readings
On'yomi
- カン
Kun'yomi
—
Nanori
- はん
Meaning
漢 centers on the Han dynasty and its cultural legacy, giving rise to the broad sense of China or things Chinese.
Most common words using 漢
20 of 172- 漢字かんじN5
kanji; Chinese character
- 痴漢ちかん
molester; groper; masher; pervert
- 漢おとこ
man among men; man's man
- 漢かん
China
- 漢方かんぽう
traditional Chinese medicine
- 漢文かんぶんN1
Chinese classical writing; Chinese classics
- 漢方薬かんぽうやくN1
Chinese herbal medicine
- 漢語かんごN1
Japanese word of Chinese origin; Sino-Japanese word
- 漢詩かんし
Chinese poem; Chinese poetry
- 巨漢きょかん
giant
- 頓珍漢とんちんかん
absurdity; contradiction; incoherence; irrelevance
- 常用漢字じょうようかんじN1
jōyō kanji; kanji for common use; list of 2,136 kanji designated for common use (introduced in 1981, revised in 2010)
- 和漢わかん
Japanese-Chinese; Japan and China
- 悪漢あっかん
rascal; villain; scoundrel; ruffian; crook
- 暴漢ぼうかん
hoodlum; ruffian
- 羅漢らかん
arhat
- 武漢ぶかん
Wuhan (China)
- 漢和かんわN2
China and Japan
- 漢音かんおん
kan-on; Han reading; on reading of a kanji based on Tang dynasty Chinese
- 熱血漢ねっけつかん
hot-blooded man
Study
Etymology
漢 originally referred to the Han River. The character combines 氵 (water) with a phonetic element that also suggests difficulty or vastness. It later became the name of the Han dynasty and, by extension, China.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 氵 is water, and the right side looks like a complex structure. Picture the vast Han River flowing through ancient China, giving its name to the dynasty and the culture.
Reading mnemonic
For カン, imagine a can of Chinese tea floating on the Han River: can -> カン, and the tea represents China.