繁 (fán) · complicated; manifold

Meanings

1 complicated; manifold
2 numerous; in great numbers
3 to multiply; to breed

Characters

繁

fán

complicated; numerous; to multiply

Examples

HSK 3

公司最近非常繁忙。

Gōngsī zuìjìn fēicháng fánmáng.

The company has been extremely busy lately.

HSK 5

这座城市越来越繁华了。

Zhè zuò chéngshì yuèláiyuè fánhuá le.

This city is growing more and more bustling.

HSK 6

兔子繁殖得很快。

Tùzi fánzhí de hěn kuài.

Rabbits breed very fast.

Tips

memory

The silk graph 糸 sits at the bottom: many tangled threads stand for 'complicated', 'numerous', 'multiplying'.

register

Everyday reading is fán (complicated; numerous; 繁体字 traditional characters). The character has one other reading, pó, used only as a rare surname. In all ordinary vocabulary it is fán.

Components

radical

糸 mì

silk thread (radical)

Bottom silk radical, a pictograph of a hanging skein of twisted silk, the full form (side form 纟). It carries the meaning: 繁 pictured a horse's mane elaborately braided with silk tassels, then generalized to anything tied up and multiplied, hence 繁华 bustling, 繁忙 busy, 繁体字 traditional characters.

phonetic

敏 mǐn

quick; nimble

Top 敏 supplies the sound, drifting mǐn to fán through a well-attested m/f shift in older Chinese. Faint flavour: 敏 means 'quick, nimble', and 繁 carries the image of activity multiplied, busy hands and abundant doings. The same phonetic appears in 蘩 and 鳘.