Chinese character for kung fu: 功夫 (gōngfu)
The Chinese word for kung fu is 功夫 (gōngfu). It means kung fu, the martial arts, and more broadly any skill gained through long effort and time. It appears in phrases like 下功夫 (xià gōngfu, to put in effort).
How 功夫 is built
功 (gōng) joins 工 (gōng, work), which gives the sound, with 力 (lì, strength): results earned by hard work. 夫 (fū) shows a man 大 with an extra line across his head, a hairpin worn by adult men, so it means a grown man or a worker. Together, 功夫 is the skill of a person who works hard. The second syllable is said lightly, gōngfu.
功 gōng · achievement
- 工gōng — labor
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丄shàng — above
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 力lì — power
- 丿 — falling stroke
Origin hint: Results produced by capable 力 labor 工; 工 also provides the pronunciation (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
夫 fū · man
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 大dà — big
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 人rén — person
Origin hint: A man 大 wearing a coming-of-age hairpin 一 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 功夫 is used
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 功夫 is identical in both scripts and is understood worldwide; it also means 'effort', which suits a motivational design.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for kung fu?
功夫 (gōngfu) means “kung fu”.
How do you pronounce 功夫?
功夫 is pronounced gōngfu.