Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

膳: small low table, tray

N1 (our estimate)16 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

月 carries the meaning · 善 is drawn in

16 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

ゼンzen · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 膳ぜんsmall dining table (usu. for a single…
  • 一膳いちぜんbowl (of rice)
  • 陰膳かげぜんtray for absent one

Also read セン, かしわ, すすめる, そなえる, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“It looks like the moon, but it's actually muscle! When you see this "moon" on the left side of a character, don't think of the night sky—think of your own body.”
More in the 月 meat story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
月

Also built on meat (月)

All 63
善

Also built on virtuous (善)

Also read ゼン

10 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read セン

38 kanji share this on'yomiAll 38

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
膳 small low table · 月
vs繕 darning · 糸
膳 has 月 where 繕 has 糸.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shàn

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

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

Pinyin shàn 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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