Radical 13 of 20 · へん · left
日 ひへん: sun
The sun, days and time, light and dark.
Heads 22 of the 1026 kanji taught in Japanese primary school.
字源 · WHY THIS SHAPE
From a picture to 日
- 1. The picture
The sun: a circle with a mark in the middle. Carving and brush writing squared the circle off.
- 2. Squeezed to the left
On the left it just gets thinner (時, 明). On top it gets flatter (早, 星).
Origins follow the commonly taught explanations. Where scholars disagree, we say so.
What the family is about
The sun, days and time, light and dark.
- 時time
- 明bright
- 晴clear up
- 暗darkness
When the hint fails
易 (easy) is filed under 日 only because of its shape.
- 易easy
The 日 family, grade by grade
Every primary-school kanji filed under 日. Tap one to see its meaning.
Grade 1小1 · 2
日
day, sun早
early, fast
Grade 2小2 · 7
時
time, hour明
bright, light春
springtime, spring (season)星
star, spot曜
weekday晴
clear up昼
daytime, noon
Grade 3小3 · 4
昭
shining, bright暗
darkness, disappear昔
once upon a time, antiquity暑
sultry, hot
Grade 4小4 · 2
昨
yesterday, previous景
scenery, view
Grade 5小5 · 3
旧
old times, old things易
easy, ready to暴
outburst, rave
Grade 6小6 · 4
映
reflect, reflection暮
evening, twilight暖
warmth晩
nightfall, night
Family: kanji whose classical radical in KANJIDIC2 is 日 (no. 72). KANJIDIC2 © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.