quán
noun HSK 7-9 #1,897

Meanings

  1. 1 fist
  2. 2 boxing; martial arts style

Examples

Tā wòjǐn le quán.
He clenched his fist.
Tàijíquán shì Zhōngguó chuántǒng wǔshù.
Tai chi is a traditional Chinese martial art.

Tips

usage
appears in many martial arts names: 太极拳 (tai chi), 咏春 (Wing Chun), 少林 (Shaolin boxing). As a standalone noun it means 'fist,' but in compounds it usually refers to a style of martial art.

Components

radical
shǒu
hand
Hand radical at the bottom — the indexing radical. Used in full form rather than because it sits below, not on the left. Anchors as the hand in a specific configuration (closed into a fist), and by extension the boxing/martial-arts senses (太极拳, 拳击).
phonetic
juàn
rolled-up shape (here phonetic)
Top portion (also seen in , , ) supplies the sound: juàn → quán with regular palatal shift. Faintly semantic too — a fist is a 'rolled up' hand, fingers gathered inward like a scroll. The phonetic family centers on the curling/wrapping sense.

Stroke Order

quán