Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

掌: palm of hand, rule

Also: administer, conduct

JLPT N112 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

手 carries the meaning · 尚 gives the sound

12 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ショウshou · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 車掌しゃしょう(train) conductor
  • 掌握しょうあくgrasping; seizing; holding
  • 合掌がっしょうpressing one's hands together in prayer
  • 掌中しょうちゅうin the hand; (something) easily manipulated

てのひらtenohira · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 掌てのひらpalm (of the hand)

Also read たなごころ, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 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

“Lend a hand! This radical is the ultimate symbol of human action and creativity.”
More in the 手 hand story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
尚

Also built on esteem (尚)

掌 takes the 尚 family's reading, ショウ (shou).

手

Also built on hand (手)

All 6

Also read ショウ

90 kanji share this on'yomiAll 90

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
掌 palm of hand · 手
vs堂 public chamber · 土
掌 has 手 where 堂 has 土.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zhǎng

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

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

Pinyin zhǎng 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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