[[Characters]] #Characters \ #Anatomy-and-Living \ #Mentality # 欢 huān joy, happiness ## Components [[又 yòu]] [[又 (yòu)]] [[欠 (qiàn)]] ## Meaning Nowadays, the character 欢 (huān) primarily means "joy" or "happiness." It is commonly used to express feelings of delight or pleasure. In addition to its basic meaning, 欢 has also taken on romantic connotations, often referring to love or affection between individuals. For example, phrases like "欢喜" (huānxǐ) mean "to rejoice," and "欢聚" (huān jù) means "to gather joyfully." The character is frequently used in contexts related to celebrations, joyfulness, and positive emotions. ## History The character 欢 (huān) is a phono-semantic compound that originally means "joy" or "happiness." In the seal script from the Warring States period, the character depicts a person standing with their mouth open, laughing joyfully, while the left side features the component 雚 (guān), which serves as the phonetic part. The small seal form of 欢 closely resembles its seal script form. In modern Chinese, the meaning of 欢 has expanded to include romantic connotations, referring to love between men and women. For instance, it appears in phrases like "新欢" (xīn huān) meaning "new love" and "旧爱" (jiù ài) meaning "old love." It can also refer to a woman’s beloved, indicating the man that a woman admires, often used in the context of romantic duets. ## Evolution ### Oracular Script ？ ### Bronze Script ？ ### Seal Script ![[欢 sello.svg]] ### Clerical Script ![[欢 cle.svg]] ### Regular Script ![[欢 reg.svg]]