宦 (huàn) · imperial official; officialdom

Meanings

1 imperial official; officialdom
2 court eunuch
3 (surname) Huan

Characters

宦

huàn

imperial official; eunuch

Examples

HSK 7-9

他出身宦门世家。

Tā chūshēn huàn mén shìjiā.

He comes from a family of generations of officials.

HSK 7-9

明代宦官权势极大。

Míng dài huànguān quánshì jídà.

In the Ming dynasty, court eunuchs wielded enormous power.

Tips

usage

宦 rarely stands alone today; learn it through compounds. 宦官 = court eunuch, 宦海 = 'sea of officialdom' (the political career), 仕宦 = to serve as an official, 宦门 = a family of officials.

Components

radical

宀 mián

roof; house (radical)

Top 宀 is the roof radical (Kangxi #40) - a horizontal roof with two slanting walls, indexing 宀 chars to houses and indoor life (家 family, 室 room, 安 peace, 守 guard). Here it pins 宦 to the palace, the most important roofed enclosure in imperial China; the courtier or eunuch served inside the imperial residence.

semantic

臣 chén

subject; vassal; official

Inside 臣 is the bowed-subject pictograph, originally a drawing of a downcast eye signifying servile lowering of the gaze before the ruler. Together with 宀 above the picture is 'an official inside the palace' - a courtier or, in later usage, a palace eunuch. Survives in 宦官 eunuch, 宦海 the treacherous sea of officialdom.