quán
noun HSK 6 #1,627

Meanings

  1. 1 power; authority; right
  2. 2 privilege; entitlement

Examples

HSK 3
Měigè rén dōu yǒu shòu jiàoyù de quán.
Everyone has the right to education.
HSK 4
Quán zài nǐ shǒulǐ.
The power is in your hands.
HSK 7-9
Tā lànyòng le zìjǐ de quán.
He abused his power.

Tips

usage
is often combined with other characters: 权力 (power/authority), 权利 (rights), 权威 (authority/authoritative), 人权 (human rights), 政权 (political power/regime).
history
The traditional form has (wood) on the left - originally referred to a wooden weighing device, symbolizing balance and the power to judge.

Components

radical
tree; wood
Left indexing wood radical - pictograph of a tree with branches and roots. The traditional originally referred to a particular tree species (a kind of yellow flowering hardwood) used to make official scales; the wood-radical preserves that botanical origin even as the meaning generalized to "weight, authority, power, right."
semantic
yòu
right hand
Right - pictograph of a right hand. In the simplified it replaces the elaborate of the traditional form (a heron with the wood); the 1956 reform substituted the simple hand. The hand is graphic residue here, not a true semantic contributor - but it does evoke the gesture of grasping power.

Stroke Order

quán