Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

元: beginning, former time

Also: origin

JLPT N44 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met

二 and 儿 carry the meaning

4 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

ゲンgen · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 元気なげんきなenergetic
  • 紀元前きげんぜんB.C.E.
  • 三次元さんじげん3 dimensions

ガンgan · on'yomi

  • 元祖がんそfounder, inventor
  • 元年がんねんfirst year (of a specific reign)

もとmoto · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 製造元せいぞうもとmanufacturer
  • 地元じもとlocal
  • 身元みもとperson's identity

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Pictogram (象形)

A figure with two lines 上 for a head (one connected to body, one above it), emphasizing the head.

Source: Wiktionary, 元 (rev. 93383877), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Person (人/儿) + a top line (二). A person with a mark above their head/legs, pointing to the very "top" or "source" of their being—the "origin."”
From the 儿 human legs story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
二

Also built on two (二)

All 15
儿

Also built on human legs (儿)

All 16

元 gives its sound to

The family reading is カン (kan). Sound parts: KanjiVG.

Also read ゲン

17 kanji share this on'yomiAll 17

Also read ガン

10 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
元 beginning · 儿
vs井 well · 廾
元 has 儿 where 井 has 廾.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yuán

Same form: 元 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
元 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
元 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin yuán most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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