翰 (hàn): surname Han, writing brush

翰 (hàn) is a Chinese character meaning “writing brush.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 倝 (phonetic) and 羽 (semantic). It ranks #1185 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 翰 plume. Its radical form 羽 (feather) appears in many related characters such as 翻 (fān, to turn over), 羽 (yǔ, feather), 耀 (yào, brilliant).

Spoken pronunciation

Radical: 羽 feather16 strokesFrequency #1185倝 phonetic 羽 semantic

Definitions

surname Han
writing brush

Etymology & Origin

翰

pictophoneticplume

Decomposition: ⿰倝羽 (layout: left-right)

Components:倝phonetic 羽semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 翰 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
约翰proper-noun	yuē hàn	John (name)
约翰逊proper-noun	yuē hàn xùn	Johnson or Johnston (name)
伯明翰proper-noun	bó míng hàn	Birmingham
约翰内斯堡proper-noun	yuē hàn nèi sī bǎo	Johannesburg, South Africa
圣约翰proper-noun	shèng yuē hàn	Saint John
约翰斯顿proper-noun	yuē hàn sī dùn	Johnston, Johnson, Johnstone etc, name
杨百翰	yáng bǎi hàn	Brigham Young
约翰·拉贝	yuē hàn · lā bèi	John Rabe (1882-1950), German who helped protect Chinese during the Nanking massacre period
塞缪尔·约翰逊	sài miù ěr yuē hàn xùn	Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) or Dr Johnson, English writer and lexicographer
约翰一书proper-noun	yuē hàn yī shū	First epistle of St John
约翰三书proper-noun	yuē hàn sān shū	Third epistle of St John
翰林学士noun	hàn lín xué shì	members of the Hanlin Imperial Academy 翰林院, employed as imperial secretaries from the Tang onwards
约翰二书proper-noun	yuē hàn èr shū	Second epistle of St John
约翰保罗	yuē hàn bǎo luó	John Paul (name)
杨百翰大学	yáng bǎi hàn dà xué	Brigham Young University

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

翰 appears in 32 compound words: 9 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 56 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 翰 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

约yuē

0.650124 co-occurrences

玛mǎ

0.38029 co-occurrences

丽lì

0.34226 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (7)

施洗约翰Shīxǐ Yuēhàn

John the Baptist

约翰二书Yuēhàn Èrshū

2 John

约翰福音Yuēhàn Fúyīn

Gospel of John

约翰三书Yuēhàn Sānshū

3 John

约翰斯顿Yuēhànsīdùn

a transliteration of the English surname Johnston

约翰一书Yuēhàn Yīshū

1 John

Showing 6 of 7 idioms containing 翰.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

翰字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。

Hàn zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The way the character "Han" is written is quite unique, and it really left a lasting impression on me.

中時新聞網Apr 2026

...胜考成功争取新北国中小营养午餐免费周韦翰吁加码纳入幼儿园

. . . shèng kǎo chéng gōng zhēng qǔ xīn běi guó zhōng xiǎo yíng yǎng wǔ cān miǎn fèi zhōu Wéi Hàn xū jiā mǎ nà rù yòu ér yuán

...Sheng Kao successfully secured free school lunches for elementary and junior high schools in New Taipei City; Zhou Weihan calls for the program to be expanded to include kindergartens

EttodayApr 2026

频传职场霸凌!洪申翰:修订专章附属法规盼7/1上路

pín chuán zhí chǎng bà líng ! hóng shēn Hàn : xiū dìng zhuān zhāng fù shǔ fǎ guī pàn 7 1 shàng lù

Reports of workplace bullying are on the rise! Hong Shen-han: Amending the relevant regulations, aiming for implementation on July 1

The Beijing NewsMar 2026

翰德发布《2026人才趋势报告》:AI重塑...

Hàn dé fā bù 2 0 2 6 rén cái qū shì bào gào : A I chóng sù . . .

Hande Releases the "2026 Talent Trends Report": AI Reshapes...

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

影/日月潭国际撑竿跳高赛...我国吴彦翰摘银破全国纪录只输这一国

yǐng rì yuè tán guó jì chēng gān tiào gāo sài . . . wǒ guó wú 彦 Hàn zhāi yín pò quán guó jì lù zhī shū zhè yī guó

Video: Sun Moon Lake International Pole Vault Competition... Taiwan's Wu Yen-han Wins Silver and Breaks National Record, Finishing Behind Only One Country

LtnMar 2026

育婴假放宽至6岁适用?劳动部长洪申翰:最快下半年修法

yù yīng jiǎ fàng kuān zhì 6 suì shì yòng ? láo dòng bù cháng hóng shēn Hàn : zuì kuài xià bàn nián xiū fǎ

Will parental leave be extended to cover children up to age 6? Labor Minister Hong Shen-han: Legislation could be amended as early as the second half of the year

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 翰 (hàn) mean in Chinese?

翰 (hàn) primarily means "writing brush." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #1185 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 翰 have?

翰 is written with 16 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 翰?

The radical associated with 翰 is 羽 (feather). This radical appears in many characters related to feather.

What are the components of 翰?

翰 is composed of: 倝 (phonetic), 羽 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰倝羽 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 翰?

Common words with 翰 include: 约翰 (yuē hàn, "John (name)"); 约翰逊 (yuē hàn xùn, "Johnson or Johnston (name)"); 伯明翰 (bó míng hàn, "Birmingham"); 约翰内斯堡 (yuē hàn nèi sī bǎo, "Johannesburg, South Africa"); 圣约翰 (shèng yuē hàn, "Saint John"). There are over 32 compound words containing this character.

Is 翰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 翰 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 翰 with real-time feedback

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