艰
jiān HSK5

difficult

← Back to history
approved by Marcus Ngai · Mar 24, 2026, 01:04 AM · Reviewed by Marcus Ngai on Mar 24, 2026, 01:04 AM

Updated the whole character. (etymology, components, source, etc.)

Changed fields: hint, isVerified, components, customSources

Simplified form of 艱. Originally pictograph of person (卩 or 女) guarding a drum (壴) to report difficulties. Later reanalyzed as a compound of 𦰩 and 艮, which both represent the sound.

Components

𦰩
𦰩 Simplified component

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 艱.

艮
艮 Sound component

Originally written as 壴 but later reanalyzed as 艮 to represent the sound.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode