教

jiào
#191 most
frequent character
religion, teaching, to make

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

教 has 𡥉 'to learn' as both picture and sound part, showing a child taught numbers. 攵, a hand holding a staff, was added to show learning under threat of a beating. Together they give the first meaning 'to teach'. From that came 'teachings', 'philosophy', and 'religion'.

Drawn as: child taught numbers; hand holding staff

Ask DeepSeek

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.