竿 (gān) is a Chinese character meaning “a bamboo pole”. It is written from ⺮ (bamboo radical (top form of 竹)) and 干 (dry), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “bamboo pole”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
⺮ + 干
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 9 笔核验：⺮ 6 笔 + 干 3 笔）
Memory aid
Bamboo (⺮) sits on top to tell you what the thing is made of, and 干 gān underneath tells you how to say it: gān — a long bamboo pole.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 钓竿diào gānfishing rod竿 = gān
- 竹竿zhú gānbamboo pole竿 = gān
Go deeper
All readings
bamboo pole
a bamboo pole; a long slender pole (as in a fishing rod or a flagpole)
竹子做成的细长杆子，也泛指细长的杆状物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 钓竿diào gānfishing rod竿 = gān
- 竹竿zhú gānbamboo pole竿 = gān
Sound component
干 family exact
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 竿 mean?
竿 (gān) means a bamboo pole; a long slender pole (as in a fishing rod or a flagpole).
How do you pronounce 竿?
It is pronounced gān.
What parts is 竿 made of?
⺮ (bamboo radical (top form of 竹)) and 干 (dry), one above the other. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 9 笔核验：⺮ 6 笔 + 干 3 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 竿 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 竿?
竹. 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 竿?
Common ones are 钓竿 and 竹竿. The reading of 竿 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.