What does 看 mean in Chinese?

看 (kàn) means "to look, see" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 看?

看 is written with 9 strokes, starting from the 目 (eye) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 看?

The radical of 看 is 目 (eye, Kangxi radical #109). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 相, 真, 着, 目.

How many strokes does 看 have?

The Chinese character 看 has 9 strokes.

What HSK level is 看?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 看 is a character to recognise at HSK 1.

看 (kàn): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

看

kàn

to look, see

HSK 1 character 9 strokes Radical: 目 (eye)

Quick Answer

看 (kàn) means "to look, see" with 9 strokes, radical 目 (eye), HSK 1 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 看 →Animated stroke-order for 看 →

Pronunciation

kàn

Meaning

Primary: to look

Other meanings:

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

看 does not have a clear oracle-bone attestation. It is a semantic compound of 手 (hand) on top, written in its reduced form, over 目 (eye). The image is of shading the eyes with a hand to see into the distance, a natural gesture that directly encodes the meaning 'to look'.

Form evolution

The character first appears clearly in seal script with 手 above 目. Clerical script flattened 手 into the three-stroke 龵 form used today, where the original fingers and palm are reduced to a curved top stroke. 楷书 preserved this arrangement, giving the stable modern nine-stroke form.

How the meaning evolved

The core meaning 'to look, to watch' has been stable since antiquity. It extended to 'to read' (看书), 'to visit' (看朋友), 'to consider or regard as' (看作), and 'to depend on' (看情况). In imperatives it can also soften a request, as in 试试看 (give it a try).

Cultural note

看 has two readings: kàn (to look) and kān (to guard or watch over, as in 看门, to keep the gate). Learners often miss that the top component is a stylised 手 rather than a variant of 禾 or 毛, which obscures the original gesture-based logic.