漢 Chinese

(waterleft) + (from China (radical))
★★★★★
13 strokes
BETA

Onyomi

KAN

Genghis KHAN was not Chinese, he was Mongolian.

Mnemonic

This water came from China, so it's Chinese!

Jukugo

漢字(かんじ)

kanji ★★★★★
漢 (Chinese) + 字 (letter) = 漢字 (kanji)

of course

痴漢(ちかん)

train pervert ★★★★☆ FR1/2 KANA
痴 (molester) + 漢 (Chinese) = 痴漢 (train pervert)

Usually 漢 means Chinese: it's used in a lot of obscure words ('Chinese dictionary,' 'Chinese herbal medicine,' 'Chinese classical literature,' etc.)

HOWEVER - aside from 漢字 - the only time 漢 is really used in daily life is here: 痴漢, meaning a guy who molests or gropes women on crowded trains.

So the literal reading is: 'sick Chinese' !WTF???

Lookalikes

Meaning Hint Radical
横 side / arrogant TREE 木
漢 Chinese WET 水
黄 yellow NO TREE

The TREE got knocked over on its side.

Kanji came to Japan from across the WET sea.

Yellow has NO TREE, so you can say: pee, not tree!!