艰(jiān)

HSK 58 strokesTrad. 艱

difficult

Print a 艰 worksheet PDFPractice writing 艰

Stroke order animation

Character information

Pinyin
jiān
Meaning
difficult; hard; hardship
Strokes
8
HSK level
HSK 5
Traditional
艱

Origin & structure

Where 艰 comes from and how its parts fit together.

Phonetic-semantic compound⿰又艮

In this compound, the meaning comes from 艮 (tough); 堇 supplies the sound.

One part carries the meaning, the other suggests the sound.

Made of

又yòu艮gèn堇jǐn

Parts are arranged left to right.

How to write 艰 step by step

8 strokes — each frame adds one stroke, shown in dark ink over the lighter ones.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

Words with 艰

Common words using 艰 — tap any character to open its stroke-order page.

jiān艰kǔ苦
HSK 5

difficult

Open 艰苦 page →
jiān艰nán难
HSK 5

difficult; arduous; hard

Open 艰难 page →
jiān艰jù巨
HSK 7-9

variant of 艰巨

Open 艰巨 page →
jiān艰kǔ苦fèn奋dòu斗
HSK 7-9

to struggle arduously

Open 艰苦奋斗 page →
jiān艰xīn辛
HSK 7-9

hardships

Open 艰辛 page →
jiān艰xiǎn险
HSK 7-9

difficult and dangerous

Open 艰险 page →
dīng丁jiān艰

(literary) to be in mourning after the death of a parent

Open 丁艰 page →
jiān艰shēn深

abstruse; complicated

Open 艰深 page →

Related characters

More HSK 5 characters

丑丢乏乘乙亏享仔

From 艰’s common words

苦难巨奋斗辛险丁

Ready to master 艰?

Trace 艰 stroke by stroke in the online practice tool, or turn it into a printable worksheet PDF with Tianzige practice grids, pinyin, and stroke-order breakdowns.

Practice 艰 onlineGenerate worksheet PDFBrowse all of HSK 5 →