髯 (rán) · cheek whiskers; sideburns; long beard

Meanings

1 cheek whiskers; sideburns; long beard
2 (by extension) a man with a fine beard; a bearded one

Characters

髯

rán

long beard; whiskers

Examples

HSK 6

三国时的关羽因髯长被称为美髯公。

Sānguó shí de Guān Yǔ yīn rán cháng bèi chēngwéi Měirángōng.

Guan Yu of the Three Kingdoms was called 'the Beautiful Beard' for his long whiskers.

HSK 7-9

老学究捋了捋白髯，笑着摇了摇头。

Lǎo xuéjiū lǚ le lǚ bái rán, xiào zhe yáo le yáo tóu.

The old scholar stroked his white whiskers and shook his head with a smile.

HSK 7-9

京剧舞台上，飘逸的长髯象征智将良臣。

Jīngjù wǔtái shàng, piāoyì de cháng rán xiàngzhēng zhì jiàng liáng chén.

On the Peking-opera stage, a long flowing beard signals a wise general or seasoned minister.

Tips

usage

rán originally named the long cheek-whiskers extending below the jaw, but in modern usage it generally refers to any full beard, especially a long, flowing, dignified one. Key compounds: 美髯 (handsome beard), 美髯公 (the 'Beautiful Beard' - Guan Yu's epithet in Three Kingdoms), 虬髯 (curly thick beard, associated with the Tang martial-arts story 《虬髯客传》), 白髯 (white beard of an old sage).

culture

In Peking opera, the type of 髯口 (stage beard) tells you the character's age and rank at a glance: a long white 髯 marks a venerable elder; a black 髯 a man in his prime; a thick 虬髯 (curly) a bold warrior or bandit chief. Knowing the beard saves you a programme note.

Components

radical

髟 biāo

long flowing hair (radical)

Top long-hair radical (Kangxi #190) - pictograph of streaming hair. Marks 髯 as a body-hair word, alongside 髭 (moustache), 髻 (bun), 鬓 (temple hair).

phonetic

冉 rǎn

supplying the sound; originally a picture of drooping hair / fur

Bottom phonetic 冉 - exact sound match apart from tone (rǎn → rán). 冉 in oracle bone form pictured drooping hair or fur, so it doubles as a semantic hint: hair drooping from the cheeks. The same phonetic appears in 苒 (luxuriant), 染 (dye).