How to Write 汉 (hàn) — Meaning “Han (Chinese / Han ethnicity)”

Imagine the three dots of the water radical (氵) as raindrops, and the right side 又 as a person raising one arm. Picture a person from the Han dynasty waving by a river, which helps you link the shape to the meaning of 'Chinese' or 'Han'.

Write the left radical 氵 first: three strokes (dot, dot, lift). Then the right part 又: start with a curved horizontal stroke (横撇) followed by a downward stroke (捺). Keep the left side narrow and the right side slightly wider. A common mistake is making the right side too small or the curved stroke too flat.

汉 has 又 on the right, while 㳄 (yán, rare) has 欠 (a person yawning) and means saliva, and 氿 (guǐ) has 九 (nine) and means a spring. Only 汉 uses the hand-like 又 component and is common in words for Chinese language or ethnicity.

汉 appears in everyday words like 汉语 (Chinese language) and 汉字 (Chinese characters), which refer to the language and writing system of China. It also represents the Han ethnic group, the majority in China, and is tied to the Han dynasty, a golden age of Chinese civilization. Note that 汉堡 (hamburger) uses 汉 only as a sound, not for meaning.

Common words containing 汉 include: 汉语 (hàn yǔ) — Chinese language; 汉字 (hàn zì) — Chinese character; 汉堡 (hàn bǎo) — hamburger.