Onyomi: カン · Kunyomi: - · Meanings: China, Sino-
Kanji for china, sino-
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
Experience 漢 in 3D! View the complete 3D Kanji model to understand its shape and stroke depth from every angle. Click the button below to see 漢 in 3D and explore how each stroke forms this character.
Please support us by sharing!
The kanji 漢 combines the water radical 氵 with the element representing the ancient Han dynasty (the left part ???? / 艹 + 夫). Originally, it referred to the Han River in China, a major waterway associated with the Han people. Over time, 漢 came to mean “Chinese,” “man,” or anything connected to the Han culture — like 漢字, meaning “Chinese characters.”
Water and the Han people — 漢 means Chinese, man, or related to the Han culture.
Think of the flowing Han River where Chinese civilization thrived — that’s 漢, the kanji for the Han people and the origin of kanji characters.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 漢 | かん | China | Noun |
| 漢 | おとこ | man among men, man's man | Noun |
| 唐 | から | China (sometimes also used in ref. to Korea or other foreign countries) | Noun, Noun, used as a prefix |
| 漢字 | かんじ | kanji, Chinese character | common JLPT-N5 Noun |
| 漢方薬 | かんぽうやく | Chinese herbal medicine | common Noun |
| 漢文 | かんぶん | Chinese classical writing, Chinese classics | common Noun |
| 漢詩 | かんし | Chinese poem, Chinese poetry | Noun |
| 漢語 | かんご | Japanese word of Chinese origin, Sino-Japanese word | common JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 漢和 | かんわ | China and Japan | common JLPT-N2 Noun |
| 漢方 | かんぽう | traditional Chinese medicine | common Noun |