HSK 3.0 · LEVEL 1
难
Difficult, hard; trouble, adversity; (alternatively pronounced 'nàn' for disaster).
Free Chinese vocabulary flashcard · HSK 1
Why does 难 look like this?
The left part '又' (yòu) originally meant a hand, while the right part '隹' (zhuī) is the radical for short-tailed birds. Historically, it represented a specific bird, but nowadays it's used to mean 'difficult.' Think of it as trying to catch a bird with your bare hands—that's certainly a difficult task!