苦kǔ
Character evolution
苦
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简体
Simplified Chinese
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Shuowen
Bitter. The character 苦 is composed of the grass radical 艹 atop the component 古; in oracle bone script it pictured a bitter herb, with 古 serving as a phonetic element, thus giving rise to the meaning “bitter” and later extending to “suffering.”
Pinyin
kǔ· HSK 1