關
简 关 · 繁 關Characters in this entry
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Mandarin tones
1 · guan1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 16 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
gwaan1
Cantonese word readings for 關. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character · Etymology 1
- door bolt
- to close; to shut
- to close down (a business)
- to lock up; to detain
- to turn off; to switch off
- (literary) to go through; to pass
- to concern; to implicate; to relate to
- frontier pass; border control; checkpoint (controlled passage)
- frontier pass; border control; checkpoint (controlled passage) — (specifically) Shanhai Pass
- area just outside a city gate
- difficult time; critical juncture
- key; crucial part
- (video games) level
- (traditional Chinese medicine) short for 關上/关上 (guānshàng, “guan, a pulse position on the wrist”)
- (dated) to issue or receive payment
- a surname
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack