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guān

Character evolution

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Simplified · Today

Shuowen

关. The oracle bone 关 shows a gate with a crossbar, representing a place where a passage is closed or a mountain pass. The form combines a gate element with a bar across it, symbolizing the act of shutting or guarding, and thus the character came to mean 'to close' or 'a pass', with the written form retaining the gate and bar to depict a secured entrance.

Pinyin

guān· HSK 2