工

gōng

Pinyin
gōng
Pinyin (Plain)
gong
Tone
1
Strokes
3
Radical
工
Readings
gōnggongTone: 1work; worker; skill; profession; trade; craft; laborOrder: 0Primary
Stroke Order Code
Speed
Stroke Order Data
["M 538 620 Q 614 633 697 643 Q 766 656 777 664 Q 787 673 783 682 Q 776 697 743 706 Q 709 716 675 704 Q 596 682 510 665 Q 416 649 306 645 Q 264 641 293 620 Q 336 589 402 601 Q 439 607 477 611 L 538 620 Z", "M 535 216 Q 562 534 573 562 Q 586 581 572 596 Q 554 611 538 620 C 512 636 463 637 477 611 Q 496 580 495 539 Q 491 385 487 212 C 486 182 532 186 535 216 Z", "M 521 162 Q 578 163 632 168 Q 779 178 927 159 Q 955 155 962 165 Q 972 180 958 194 Q 924 228 873 252 Q 857 259 827 250 Q 754 237 678 228 Q 593 222 535 216 L 487 212 Q 357 202 291 195 Q 218 186 109 188 Q 93 188 91 175 Q 90 160 111 143 Q 130 128 166 113 Q 179 109 200 117 Q 218 123 295 134 Q 397 153 521 162 Z"]
Meaning
The character **“工” (gōng)** mainly means **“work” or “labor,”** and by extension refers to **craftsmanship, engineering, or workers** (as in “工人” – worker). It is also used in many compound words related to **industry, construction, and technical work** (e.g., “工程” – engineering, project).
Metadata
Locale: en
Cached At: 5/9/2026, 2:28:49 AM

Usage

The character 工 (gōng) is a very common and basic character that learners see early on. Its core meaning is “work” or “labor,” especially physical or technical work. On its own, it can mean “work” (as in 工作 gōngzuò “to work; job”) or refer to workers in certain contexts, such as 工人 (gōngrén, “worker”). It also carries the idea of “engineering” or “technical,” as in 工程 (gōngchéng, “engineering; project”) and 工业 (gōngyè, “industry”). In everyday vocabulary, it often appears in words related to jobs, industry, and doing work. Learners also encounter 工 very frequently as a component or radical in other characters. It serves as a radical associated with work, tools, or craftsmanship, and it appears in many compound characters and words. Visually, it’s simple and easy to write (just three strokes), so it’s often taught among the first set of characters in beginner courses and textbooks. Because it combines both as an independent word and as a building block in many other characters, recognizing 工 helps learners guess meanings in terms like 工厂 (gōngchǎng, “factory”), 工资 (gōngzī, “wages”), and 加工 (jiāgōng, “to process; to manufacture”).

Handwriting Notes

工 is a very simple, blocky character: essentially a horizontal line at the top, a slightly longer horizontal line at the bottom, and a vertical line connecting them, forming a clean, “工” shape. In handwriting, it usually looks a bit more dynamic than the printed font: the top stroke is often slightly shorter than the bottom, the vertical can lean very subtly, and the line thickness may vary with pen pressure. People may write the horizontals with a gentle taper or curve rather than dead-straight lines, and the vertical sometimes overshoots the lower stroke by a tiny amount or connects with a rounded corner instead of a sharp angle. Despite these small personal variations in angle, length, curvature, and connection style, the character remains very easy to recognize visually because of its clear three-stroke structure and overall “工”-like silhouette. Modern AI handwriting recognition systems are trained on many such handwritten variants, allowing them to reliably identify 工 even when written quickly, messily, or in different individual styles.

Description

工 is a common Chinese character meaning “work,” “labor,” or “craft.” It appears in many words related to work or skills, such as 工人 (worker) and 工厂 (factory). In modern usage, it is also used as a component in many other characters.

Common Words

  • 工人gōng rénworker; laborer
  • 工作gōng zuòwork; job; to work
  • 工资gōng zīwages; salary
  • 工厂gōng chǎngfactory
  • 工人阶级gōng rén jiē jíworking class
  • 工会gōng huìlabor union; trade union
  • 工程gōng chéngengineering; project
  • 工程师gōng chéng shīengineer
  • 工艺gōng yìcraft; technology; workmanship
  • 工业gōng yèindustry
  • 工地gōng dìconstruction site; work site
  • 工人文化宫gōng rén wén huà gōngworkers’ cultural palace (a public cultural center for workers)
  • 职工zhí gōngstaff; workers and employees
  • 打工dǎ gōngto work (often part-time or as a temporary worker)
  • 工厂化gōng chǎng huàindustrialized; factory-based
  • 工伤gōng shāngwork injury; industrial injury
  • 工龄gōng línglength of service; years of work
  • 工序gōng xùworking procedure; process step
  • 工艺品gōng yì pǐnhandicraft; artware
  • 工装gōng zhuāngworkwear; work clothes
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