敛 (liǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to gather”. It is written from 佥 (all; everyone (classical); in 俭 it carries the sound) and 攵 (a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to gather; to restrain”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
佥 + 攵
Left–right structure
- 佥 all; everyone (classical); in 俭 it carries the sound · qiān sound
- 攵 a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something · pū meaning
Structure from: 现代字形拆分：敛 = 佥 + 攵；Unicode U+655B radical 66 (攴)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–6 笔为佥(7 画)，7–10 笔为攵(4 画)，合计 11 画；说文解字：斂，收也。从攴僉聲。
Memory aid
佥 on the left means "everyone"; 攵 on the right is a hand holding a stick. The hand with the stick gathers everyone in and holds them back — to collect, to restrain.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 收敛shōu liǎnto restrain oneself; to hold back; to converge敛 = liǎn
- 内敛nèi liǎnreserved; low-key; understated敛 = liǎn
Go deeper
All readings
to gather; to restrain
to gather; to collect; to hold back; to restrain
收拢、聚集；也指约束、收起。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 收敛shōu liǎnto restrain oneself; to hold back; to converge敛 = liǎn
- 内敛nèi liǎnreserved; low-key; understated敛 = liǎn
Origin
A phono-semantic compound: 攵 (a hand holding a stick, marking an action) gives the meaning and 佥 (traditional 僉) supplies the sound. 说文解字 glosses 斂 simply as "to gather in".
Source: 说文解字：斂，收也。从攴僉聲。
Sound component
佥 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 敛 mean?
敛 (liǎn) means to gather; to collect; to hold back; to restrain.
How do you pronounce 敛?
It is pronounced liǎn.
What parts is 敛 made of?
佥 (all; everyone (classical); in 俭 it carries the sound) and 攵 (a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分：敛 = 佥 + 攵；Unicode U+655B radical 66 (攴)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–6 笔为佥(7 画)，7–10 笔为攵(4 画)，合计 11 画；说文解字：斂，收也。从攴僉聲。. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 敛 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 敛?
攴. 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 敛?
Common ones are 收敛 and 内敛. The reading of 敛 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.