开 (kāi) means "to open" with 4 strokes, radical 廾 (two hands), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: to open
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
The traditional form 開 shows a door (門) with two hands (廾) lifting a horizontal bar or bolt from its brackets. Oracle bone evidence for this specific character is limited, but bronze and seal forms clearly depict the act of unbarring a gate. The simplified form 开 keeps only the inner component, dropping the door radical entirely.
Form evolution
Bronze inscriptions show the full scene of hands removing a crossbar from within a gate. Seal script regularised the two hands into the 廾 component and stylised the bar above. Clerical script squared off the curves, and the modern traditional 開 preserved the structure; the PRC simplification in the 1950s discarded 門 and kept 开, which was already in use as a handwritten shorthand.
How the meaning evolved
The original concrete meaning was to unbar a gate, which broadened quickly to opening anything: doors, containers, eyes, mouths. From there it extended to starting or initiating (开始, 开会), operating machinery (开车), and blooming (花开). The sense of turning something on, as with electricity, is a modern extension from the same core idea of making something accessible or active.
Cultural note
The phrase 开门见山, literally opening the door and seeing the mountain, means to get straight to the point in speech or writing. Learners often assume 开 only means open, but its use in 开车 (drive), 开会 (hold a meeting), and 开玩笑 (make a joke) shows how broadly the starting sense has spread.
Mnemonic
Two hands lifting a bar — to open
Decomposition
Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.
Basic info
| Pinyin | kāi |
| Meanings | to open |
| Stroke count | 4 strokes |
| Radical | 廾 (#55: two hands) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1 |
| Frequency | #78 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 开
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 开 | kāi | to open | HSK 1 |
| 开始 | kāishǐ | to start | HSK 2 |
| 离开 | líkāi | leave | HSK 3 |
| 开玩笑 | kāiwánxiào | Make fun of | HSK 4 |
| 开心 | kāixīn | Happy | HSK 3 |
| 公开 | gōngkāi | open | HSK 6 |
| 开放 | kāifàng | To open up | HSK 5 |
| 开水 | kāishuǐ | Boiling water | HSK 5 |
| 展开 | zhǎnkāi | Open | HSK 5 |
| 开发 | kāifā | Development | HSK 5 |
| 开幕式 | kāimùshì | The opening ceremony | HSK 5 |
| 召开 | zhàokāi | convene | HSK 5 |
| 避开 | bìkāi | to avoid, to evade | |
| 不可开交 | bùkěkāijiāo | be locked in a stalemate | |
| 敞开 | chǎngkāi | to open wide | HSK 7-9 |
Related characters
Similar meaning (action)
On the new HSK 1 exam
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.