Traditional Chinese character 關

In Chinese, 關 can mean a door-bar or guarded pass, closing, or connection; the whole compound decides. Its oldest written forms date to the Warring States period, when rival states ruled ancient China.

Text symbol

What 關 means

Chinese compounds also use it for concern and relationships.

Chinese compounds show the range: 關門 means to close a door, 關心 means care or concern, and 關係 means relationship. Early forms vary by region and appear on bronze vessels and in manuscripts. Later Qin dynasty bamboo slips—thin strips used for writing—preserve another form. The Han-era Chinese character dictionary 《說文解字》 explains it as wood held crosswise across a doorway.

Traditional Chinese character; the surrounding compound supplies its exact sense.

Do not translate 關 alone as care; the compound decides.

Who writes 關

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Don't confuse it with

关

CJK Unified Ideograph-5173

關 vs 关: As of 2026, simplified Chinese uses 关 as the simplified form of 關.

関

CJK Unified Ideograph-95A2

關 vs 関: As of 2026, 関 is the modern Japanese standard form; 關 is its old form.

Questions people ask

Why does 關 show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.