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功

gōng
noun HSK 7-9 #6,567

Meanings

  1. 1 merit; achievement; contribution
  2. 2 skill; effort
  3. 3 work (physics); result

Examples

HSK 2
他成功了！
Tā chénggōng le!
He succeeded!
HSK 6
功夫不负有心人。
Gōngfu bú fù yǒuxīn rén.
Hard work pays off for those who try.
HSK 6
这是大家的功劳。
Zhè shì dàjiā de gōngláo.
This is everyone's contribution.

Tips

usage
功 is used in: 成功 (success), 功夫 (skill/kung fu), 功能 (function), 功课 (homework/schoolwork), 功劳 (credit/contribution), 用功 (to study hard). It conveys effort and its results.
culture
功夫 literally means 'skill achieved through effort' - it applies to any discipline, not just martial arts. The martial arts meaning became famous worldwide through Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films.

Components

radical
力 lì
strength; power
Right 力 - indexing radical for 功. Pictographically a plough or muscular arm, the symbol of effort. Anchors 功 in the strength-and-effort family alongside 努 (strive), 劳 (labor), 助 (help), 加 (add). 工 (skilled work) plus 力 (raw strength) gives 功's full picture: achievement earned through applied effort.
phonetic
工 gōng
work; carpenter's square
Left 工 - supplies the sound exactly (gōng, no shift) and reinforces the meaning: 工 itself depicts a carpenter's tool and means 'work.' So 功 is doubly the work-character: tool image plus muscular effort beside it. Same phonetic appears in 红, 江, 项 - all share the gōng/jiāng sound family.

Stroke Order

功 gōng