Chinese character for kindness: 善 (shàn)
The Chinese character for kindness is 善 (shàn). It means good, kind and virtuous, and appears in 善良 (shànliáng, kind-hearted) and 友善 (yǒushàn, friendly). It is the 'good' of moral goodness.
How 善 is built
善 has 羊 (yáng, sheep) at the top and 口 (kǒu, mouth) at the bottom, with two short strokes and a line in between. In ancient China the sheep was a symbol of goodness and good fortune, and the old form of 善 had speech in it, so the character is explained as good, gentle words. As a memory aid, think of a gentle sheep and kind words. It is the same in both scripts.
善 shàn · good
- 羊yáng — sheep
- 丷ha — kwukyel
- 丶 — dot
- 丷ha — kwukyel
- 丷ha — kwukyel
- 丶 — dot
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 冂 — frame
Origin hint: To give someone food 羊 and conversation 口 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 善 is used
Other ways to say kindness
- 善良 shànliáng — kind-hearted, describing a person
- 仁 rén — benevolence, humaneness
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 善 is identical in both scripts; 善良 is the everyday word if you mean 'a kind person'.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for kindness?
善 (shàn) means “good”.
How do you pronounce 善?
善 is pronounced shàn.