How to Write 乹 (gān/qián) — Meaning “heaven or dry (variant of 乾)”

Imagine a dry (干) hook (乙) hanging from the sky to represent heaven. You can also think of the pinyin gān sounding like 'gun' and picture a hook pulling a dry weapon.

Start with the left radical 乙, written as a single curved stroke. Then add the right part 干 with three strokes: horizontal, horizontal, vertical. A common mistake is writing the right side like 亻 (person) instead of 干.

Compared to 乳 (rǔ, meaning milk or breast), 乹 has 乙 on the left and 干 on the right, while 乳 uses a top claw shape and 子 below. 乶 is a very rare character; the main visual difference is that 乹 combines 乙 and 干, which is simpler than the full 乾.

In modern Chinese, 乹 is rarely used because the standard character for heaven is 乾 and for dry is 干. However, it appears in historical texts and in the emperor's name 乾隆 (Qianlong). Learning 乹 helps you read older writings and understand character variants.

Common words containing 乹 include: 乹坤 (gān kūn) — heaven and earth or the universe; 乾隆 (qián lóng) — Qianlong (Qing Dynasty Emperor); 乹字 (gān zì) — the character 'Qian'.