Characters › 干
3 strokes · radical 干 (dry) · traditional 乾
11 strokes · radical 乙 (second) · simplified 干
A way to remember it
A forked pole, used as a shield or a weapon. The picture is nearly gone, but 干 kept the sense of doing and of being dry, and it is the top of 平 and 年.
A picture that makes the shape stick — not a claim about the character’s history.
Draft — written with AI help and not yet read by a person. What that means.
Shown in simplified. Converting whole words needs one-to-many knowledge this site does not have — 发 is 發 in 出发 but 髮 in 头发 — and a confidently wrong word would be worse than an honest simplified one.
Got it. Tell someone:
dry; dried food
gān — dry; dried food
Radical 干 (dry) · 3 strokes · traditional 乾
Radical 乙 (second) · 11 strokes · simplified 干
A way to remember itA forked pole, used as a shield or a weapon. The picture is nearly gone, but 干 kept the sense of doing and of being dry, and it is the top of 平 and 年.