HSK 3.0 · LEVEL 1
干
dry; to do; to work; trunk (of a tree); shield
Free Chinese vocabulary flashcard · HSK 1
Why does 干 look like this?
This character is its own radical (Radical 51, 'dry' or 'shield'). It looks like a simple pestle or a tool. It's often used as a shorthand for several different complex characters, representing concepts like 'dry', 'to do', or 'trunk/main body'. Imagine two horizontal lines representing layers of earth and a vertical line piercing through them!