Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Time & Sequence

典: code, ceremony

Also: law, rule

JLPT N18 strokesGrade 4Your ink: 白 Not met

八 carries the meaning · 曲 is drawn in

8 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Bronze · Western Zhou
  • Today

Oracle bone and bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

テンten · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 典礼てんれいceremony, ritual, etiquette
  • 辞典じてんdictionary
  • 事典じてんcyclopedia, encyclopedia
  • 原典げんてんoriginal
  • 古典こてんold book, classics, classic
  • 聖典せいてんscriptures
  • 法典ほうてんcode of law, body of law
  • 式典しきてんceremony, rites
  • 祭典さいてんfestival
  • 典型的なてんけいてきなtypical, representative

デンden · on'yomi

  • 香典こうでんgift given at a funeral

Also read ふみ, のり, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Split it right down the middle! This radical carries the energy of division and the clarity of separation.”
More in the 八 eight story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
曲

Also built on bend (曲)

八

Also built on eight (八)

All 23

Also read テン

12 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read デン

5 kanji share this on'yomi
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · diǎn

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

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

Pinyin diǎn 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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