艮

Stubborn Radical (艮)

gèn · 6 strokes

The stubborn radical (艮) is a less common radical in Chinese. It appears in 2 characters related to stubborn and associated concepts. 2 characters: 2 in HSK 5. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 艮 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Stubborn Component (艮) page.

Stubborn Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count6
Total Characters2
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 5 (2 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes8
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Stubborn Radical Characters

HSK 5 (2 characters)

良liánggood艰jiāndifficult

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the stubborn radical mean in Chinese characters?
The stubborn radical (艮) signals a semantic connection to stubborn-related concepts. When you see 艮 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves stubborn or associated ideas. It appears in 2 characters in the HSK character set. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the stubborn radical?
There are 2 characters with the stubborn radical (艮) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 2 in HSK 5. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental stubborn-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common stubborn radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the stubborn radical (艮) are: 良 (liáng, "good"), 艰 (jiān, "difficult"). These high-frequency characters are among the first stubborn-related characters most learners encounter.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision.