痕 (hén) is a Chinese character meaning “mark”. It is written from 疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), one enclosing the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “mark; trace”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
疒 + 艮
Enclosing structure
- 疒 sickness radical (a person lying on a bed) · nè meaning
- 艮 gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn" · gèn sound
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-4 疒 / 5-10 艮）；说文解字：痕，胝瘢也。从疒艮聲
Memory aid
Under the sickness frame 疒 sits 艮, a stubborn mountain — a wound heals, but a stubborn mark stays behind: hén, a scar or trace.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 痕迹hén jìtrace; mark; vestige痕 = hén
- 疤痕bā hénscar; cicatrix痕 = hén
Go deeper
All readings
mark; trace
mark; trace; scar left by a healed wound
伤口愈合后留下的疤；泛指事物留下的印迹。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 痕迹hén jìtrace; mark; vestige痕 = hén
- 疤痕bā hénscar; cicatrix痕 = hén
Sound component
艮 family
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 痕 mean?
痕 (hén) means mark; trace; scar left by a healed wound.
How do you pronounce 痕?
It is pronounced hén.
What parts is 痕 made of?
疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-4 疒 / 5-10 艮）；说文解字：痕，胝瘢也。从疒艮聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 痕 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 痕?
疒. 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 痕?
Common ones are 痕迹 and 疤痕. The reading of 痕 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.