垦 (kěn) is a Chinese character meaning “to reclaim (land)”. It is written from 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn") and 土 (earth; soil), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to reclaim land; to cultivate”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艮 + 土
Top–bottom structure
- 艮 gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn" · gèn unknown
- 土 earth; soil · tǔ meaning
Structure from: 现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：前六笔为「艮」（末笔捺写成点），后三笔为部首「土」；字源未查到可追溯依据，留空
Memory aid
艮 sits stubbornly on top of 土, the earth — breaking stubborn, untouched ground is exactly what 垦 means: to reclaim and till land.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 开垦kāi kěnto reclaim (land); to bring under cultivation垦 = kěn
- 垦荒kěn huāngto open up wasteland垦 = kěn
Go deeper
All readings
to reclaim land
to reclaim (land); to open up wasteland for farming; to cultivate
翻土耕种；开发荒地。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 开垦kāi kěnto reclaim (land); to bring under cultivation垦 = kěn
- 垦荒kěn huāngto open up wasteland垦 = kěn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 垦 mean?
垦 (kěn) means to reclaim (land); to open up wasteland for farming; to cultivate.
How do you pronounce 垦?
It is pronounced kěn.
What parts is 垦 made of?
艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn") and 土 (earth; soil), one above the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：前六笔为「艮」（末笔捺写成点），后三笔为部首「土」；字源未查到可追溯依据，留空. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 垦 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 垦?
土. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 垦?
Common ones are 开垦 and 垦荒. The reading of 垦 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.