奸 (jiān): wicked

Meanings

1 wicked
2 crafty
3 treacherous
4 to rape (variant of 姦)

Characters

奸

jiān

wicked; crafty; traitor

Examples

HSK 5

这个人又奸又滑。

Zhège rén yòu jiān yòu huá.

This person is both crafty and slippery.

HSK 7-9

历史上的奸臣害了很多忠臣。

Lìshǐ shàng de jiān chén hài le hěnduō zhōngchén.

Treacherous officials in history harmed many loyal ministers.

Tips

usage

As an adjective, 奸 means treacherous/crafty (奸诈, 奸臣). As a variant of 姦, it means illicit sexual acts (强奸 = rape). Context makes the meaning clear.

culture

奸臣 (treacherous minister) is a classic archetype in Chinese history and literature, contrasted with 忠臣 (loyal minister).

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman

Left woman radical - a kneeling figure with folded arms, the indexing radical. The use here reflects deeply misogynistic classical-Chinese morality where 'evil / treachery' was filed under the woman radical (also attested in 妒 jealousy, 妄 absurd, 婪 covetous). Modern readers should treat this as a fossilized graphic convention, not a current value judgment.

phonetic

干 gān

shield; dry; interfere

Right 干 supplies the sound - gān shifting to jiān with palatalization (the regular k/g → j shift before front vowels in Mandarin). Also adds the meaning 'to interfere / encroach upon,' which fits the original sense of 奸 'to violate, to commit treachery against.' Same phonetic family: 杆 pole, 肝 liver, 竿 bamboo pole, 赶 chase.