汉 (hàn) is a Chinese character meaning “Han (the majority ethnic group of China)”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 又 (again), side by side, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “Han; Chinese”
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Structure
氵 + 又
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：5 画 = 氵 3 画 + 又 2 画；部首取 UCD CJKRadicals 水部
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left, a hand (又) on the right: a hand dipped into the great river that gave the 汉 people — and Chinese writing — its name.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 汉字hàn zìChinese character汉 = hànHSK 1
- 汉奸hàn jiāntraitor (to China); collaborator with an enemy of China汉 = hàn
- 彪形大汉biāo xíng dà hàna big, burly man汉 = hàn
Go deeper
All readings
Han; Chinese
Han (the majority ethnic group of China); Chinese, as in the Han language and Chinese characters; the Han dynasty
汉族；汉语、汉字所指的「中国的」。也指汉朝、汉水。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 汉字hàn zìChinese character汉 = hànHSK 1
- 汉奸hàn jiāntraitor (to China); collaborator with an enemy of China汉 = hàn
- 彪形大汉biāo xíng dà hàna big, burly man汉 = hàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 汉 mean?
汉 (hàn) means Han (the majority ethnic group of China); Chinese, as in the Han language and Chinese characters; the Han dynasty.
How do you pronounce 汉?
It is pronounced hàn.
What parts is 汉 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 又 (again), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分，以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：5 画 = 氵 3 画 + 又 2 画；部首取 UCD CJKRadicals 水部. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 汉 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 汉?
水. 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 汉?
Common ones are 汉字. The reading of 汉 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.