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龺

gàn
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 graphic component depicting sun rising through grass (archaic)
  2. 2 old form surviving only as a left-side component in 韩 / 韓, 朝, 乾, 翰, 斡

Tips

history
龺 is the left-side graphic of 韩 / 朝 / 乾 - historically read as a contraction of 倝, depicting the sun (日) breaking through morning grass and casting a banner of light. In modern Chinese it is purely a component; the standalone reading gàn comes from 倝.
usage
Spot 龺 on the left of: 朝 (morning / dynasty - the sun rising through grass beside 月 moon still hanging), 韩 (Han, surname / Korea), 翰 (writing brush / literary letter), 乾 (heaven, dry). In each it carries the 'dawn / first light' flavour, often paired with what is being illuminated.

Components

semantic
十 shí
ten; cross-shape
Top cross-stroke shape - graphically a 十, but here representing the radiant blades of grass or banner of light catching the dawn sun. Part of the contracted historical compound 倝 'sun rising with rays,' visible on the left of 朝 (morning) and 韩.
semantic
日 rì
sun; day
Middle sun (Kangxi #72) - the indexing radical and the semantic core. The disc of the sun is bracketed above and below by stroke-clusters that depict its surrounding light. Same sun anchors all dawn-related compounds where 龺 appears: 朝, 韩, 翰, 斡.
semantic
十 shí
ten; cross-shape
Bottom cross-stroke shape - mirrors the top, completing the radial silhouette around the sun. Modern type compresses both flanking shapes to 十-form, but historically they were vegetation or banner strokes. Not a counting numeral here, just the closing fringe of the dawn-glow image.

Stroke Order

龺 gàn