Chinese character 槛

槛 can mean a doorway sill, a railing, or a cage. In Mandarin, 门槛 is a doorway sill; 门槛高 turns that physical boundary into demanding entry requirements.

The Eastern Han dictionary Shuowen Jiezi glosses 槛 as 栊, a wooden lattice or railing, and as 圈, an enclosure. Those older senses place it among words for wooden barriers.

Today, 门槛 also names the qualifications or conditions for entering a field or system.

How do you read 槛?

The word around it chooses the reading. In Mandarin pinyin, kǎn is roughly “kahn” with a low, dipping third tone; jiàn is roughly “jyen” with a falling fourth tone. 门槛 uses kǎn; railing and cage compounds use jiàn, a more literary or historical reading.

A lone 槛 does not show which reading or sense is intended. The surrounding word or message context supplies that information.

槛 or 坎: which one means an obstacle?

For a figurative obstacle, write 坎儿.

Chinese language guidance uses 坎儿 for a difficult stage or obstacle and 槛儿 for an actual doorway sill. Writing 槛儿 for a figurative hurdle can look like a character mix-up.