漢字Kanji · in Time & Sequence
公: public, prince
Also: official, governmental
JLPT N44 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met
八 carries the meaning · 厶 is drawn in
4 strokes
Oracle bone · Shang Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 公園こうえんpark
- 公害こうがいpublic nuisance, pollution
- 公判こうはんpublic hearing, trial
- 公式こうしきformula, formal, official
- 公立こうりつpublic
- 公務員こうむいんpublic employee
- 主人公しゅじんこうmain character, hero
- 公平なこうへいなfair, impartial
- 公認するこうにんするrecognize officially, authorize
- 公表するこうひょうするannounce publicly
- 公開するこうかいするpresent to the public
おおやけooyake · kun'yomi · on its own
- 公おおやけofficial, public, formal [n.]
Also read ク, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
Source: Wiktionary, 公 (rev. 92199957), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Split (八) + private (厶). To "split" away from private, selfish interests and act for the benefit of all—the "public" good.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
公 gives its sound to
The family reading is ショウ (shou). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side公 public · 八
vs允 license · 儿In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · gōng
Same form: 公 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 公 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 公 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin gōng 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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