艰 (jiān): difficult, hard, hardship
艰 (jiān) is a Chinese character meaning “difficult.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural) and 艮 (semantic). It ranks #1636 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 艰 tough. Its radical form 艮 (stubborn) appears in many related characters such as 良 (liáng, good).
Definitions
- difficult
- hard
- hardship
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 艰 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 艰
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 艰难adjective | jiān nán | difficult | 6 |
| 艰苦adjective | jiān kǔ | difficult | 5 |
| 艰辛adjective | jiān xīn | hardships | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 艰巨 | jiān jù | variant of 艱鉅|艰巨[jian1 ju4] |
| 艰险 | jiān xiǎn | difficult and dangerous |
| 举步维艰 | jǔ bù wéi jiān | to make progress only with great difficulty (idiom) |
| 艰难险阻 | jiān nán xiǎn zǔ | untold dangers and difficulties (idiom) |
| 艰苦奋斗 | jiān kǔ fèn dòu | to struggle arduously |
| 步履维艰 | bù lǚ wéi jiān | to have difficulty walking (idiom) |
| 不避艰险 | bù bì jiān xiǎn | shrink or flinch from no difficulty or danger |
| 人艰不拆 | rén jiān bù chāi | life is hard enough as it is |
| 艰巨性 | jiān jù xìng | arduousness |
| 备尝艰苦 | bèi cháng jiān kǔ | see 備嘗辛苦|备尝辛苦[bei4 chang2 xin1 ku3] |
| 艰深 | jiān shēn | abstruse |
| 艰苦朴素 | jiān kǔ pǔ sù | leading a plain, hardworking life (idiom) |
| 丁艰 | dīng jiān | (literary) to be in mourning after the death of a parent |
| 艰深晦涩 | jiān shēn huì sè | abstruse and unfathomable (idiom) |
艰 appears in 17 compound words: 65 as the first character, 18 as the last, and 18 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 艰 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to struggle through difficult times; to work hard and push through despite hardship
to struggle through difficult times; to work hard and push through despite hardship
Example Sentences
了解艰字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè jiān zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "艰" helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
Snap股价跌至52周低点4.46美元,艰难一年中挣扎
S n a p gǔ jià diē zhì 5 2 zhōu dī diǎn 4 . 4 6 měi yuán , jiān nán yī nián zhōng zhèng zhā
Snap's stock price has fallen to a 52-week low of $4.46, struggling through a difficult year
...政治工作部等6部门联合印发《关于做好边远艰苦地区和大龄未婚官兵婚恋服务工作的意见》
. . . zhèng zhì gōng zuò bù děng 6 bù mén lián gě yìn fā guān yú zuò hǎo biān yuǎn jiān kǔ dì qū hé dà líng wèi hūn guān bīng hūn liàn fú wù gōng zuò de yì jiàn
... The Ministry of Political Work and other six departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Marriage and Love Services for Elderly Unmarried Officers and Soldiers in Remote and Difficult Areas"
...周年 义媒:俄罗斯陷财政兵源困境、举步维艰
. . . zhōu nián yì méi : é luó sī xiàn cái zhèng bīng yuán kùn jìng , jǔ bù wéi jiān
... Anniversary Italian media: Russia is in financial and military difficulties and is struggling
...y股价跌至52周低点23.65美元 面临艰难一年
. . . y gǔ jià diē zhì 5 2 zhōu dī diǎn 2 3 . 6 5 měi yuán miàn lín jiān nán yī nián
... Y stock price fell to a 52-week low of $23.65 after facing a difficult year
阿尔卑斯高山牧场:田园风光背后的艰难现实
ā ěr bēi sī gāo shān mù chǎng : tián yuán fēng guāng bèi hòu de jiān nán xiàn shí
Alpine pastures: the hard reality behind the idyllic scenery
这不公平！凭什么我必须做艰苦的工作。
Zhè bù gōngpíng! píngshénme wǒ bìxū zuò jiānkǔ de gōngzuò.
It's not fair! I have to do the hard work!
我老板把艰巨的任务指派给了我。
Wǒ lǎobǎn bǎ jiānjù de rènwu zhǐpài gěi le wǒ.
My boss assigned the hard job to me.
失业之后他捱过了一段非常艰苦的日子。
Shīyè zhīhòu tā ái guo le yī duàn fēicháng jiānkǔ de rìzi.
After losing his job, he went through a very difficult time.
我想让她干这项艰难的工作。
Wǒ xiǎng ràng tā gàn zhè xiàng jiānnán de gōngzuò.
I want to leave this difficult job to her.
Character Family
艮 Radical Family — Characters sharing the stubborn radical
Related Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 艰 (jiān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 艰 and 软?
How many strokes does 艰 have?
What is the radical of 艰?
What are the components of 艰?
What are common words containing 艰?
What characters sound the same as 艰 (jiān)?
Is 艰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 艰 with real-time feedback
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