关

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mountain pass; to close; to shut; to turn off; to confine; to lock (sb) up; to shut (sb in a room, a bird in a cage etc); to concern; to involve

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HSK 3.0: Level 1
Old HSK: Level 1
Strokes: 6
Radical: 八 +4
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 關
Common rank: #189
Unicode: U+5173

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 关 is formed

Components 丷天

How to remember it

shut · Heisig RSH #1469

animal horns + 天 heavens — as a component also called: golden calf

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 关

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
关上	guān shàng	to close (a door); to turn off (light, electrical equipment etc)
没关系	méi guān xi	it doesn't matter
关中地区	Guān zhōng dì qū	Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi
山海关区	Shān hǎi guān Qū	Shanhaiguan, a district of Qinhuangdao City 秦皇島市\|秦皇岛市[Qin2 huang2 dao3 Shi4], Hebei
大关县	Dà guān Xiàn	Daguan, a county in Zhaotong City 昭通市[Zhao1 tong1 Shi4], Yunnan
马关县	Mǎ guān Xiàn	Maguan, a county in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 文山壯族苗族自治州\|文山壮族苗族自治州[Wen2…
公家机关	gōng jiā jī guān	civil service
山海关	Shān hǎi Guān	Shanhai Pass in Hebei, at the eastern terminus of the Ming dynasty Great Wall
山海关	Shān hǎi guān	see 山海關區\|山海关区[Shan1 hai3 guan1 Qu1]
公安机关	gōng ān jī guān	public security bureau
气动开关	qì dòng kāi guān	pneumatic switch
事关重大	shì guān zhòng dà	the implications are profound; the ramifications are huge; (of a decision etc) consequenti…
南关区	Nán guān Qū	Nanguan, a district of Changchun City 長春市\|长春市[Chang2 chun1 Shi4], Jilin
城关区	Chéng guān Qū	Chengguan, a district of Lanzhou City 蘭州市\|兰州市[Lan2 zhou1 Shi4], Gansu; Chengguan, a distri…
阳关大道	Yáng guān Dà dào	(lit.) the road through Yangguan 陽關\|阳关[Yang2 guan1]; (fig.) wide open road; bright future
大关	Dà guān	see 大關縣\|大关县[Da4 guan1 Xian4]
大关	dà guān	strategic pass; barrier or mark (i.e. a level considered impressive, usually a round figur…
关子	guān zi	climax (in a story)
机关车	jī guān chē	locomotive
生死关头	shēng sǐ guān tóu	the critical moment; life and death crisis

Sound family

These characters use 关 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
关 sound part	guān	frontier pass; to close, to shut; relation
联	lián	ally, associate; to connect, to join