监 (jiàn): supervisor; supervisory office…

Meanings

1 supervisor; supervisory office (in imperial China)
2 imperial directorate or academy

Characters

监

jiàn

supervisor; supervisory office (in imperial China)

Examples

古代皇宫里有很多太监。

Gǔdài huánggōng lǐ yǒu hěnduō tàijiàn.

There were many eunuchs in the ancient palace.

国子监是古代中国最高的学府。

Guózǐ jiàn shì gǔdài Zhōngguó zuìgāo de xué fǔ.

The Guozijian was the highest educational office in imperial China.

Tips

history

jiàn is a bound, historical reading for imperial offices and officials. The most common survivor is 太监 (court eunuch). It also names old institutions like the imperial academy 国子监. In every modern administrative or surveillance word the character is read jiān instead.

Components

radical

皿 mǐn

vessel; dish

The bottom indexing radical 皿 is a four-legged vessel viewed from the side. It anchors the basin in the original scene — a person leaning over a water-filled bowl to catch their reflection — from which the inspecting and supervising senses grew. Same radical sits under 盆 (basin) and 盘 (plate).

semantic

临 lín

to look down at; oversee (top portion, fused)

The top five strokes are a fused, contracted form of the upper half of traditional 監 — historically 臣 (an eye looking down) plus a kneeling-person mark. Simplification lost the separable pieces but kept the meaning: a supervisor bending over to inspect.