Definitions

gōng (noun,verb) work; labor
gōng (noun) skill; craft
gōng (noun) worker
gōng (noun) profession; trade

Etymology

Depicts a tool with a blade.

About

The character "工" derives from an early pictograph representing a tool, likely a carpenter's square or a similar implement used for measurement and construction, which informed its fundamental association with manual skill and artifice. Its enduring structural form, consisting of two horizontal strokes connected by a central vertical line, visually echoes this original depiction of a simple tool. Semantically, its scope broadened from concretely indicating tools and the artisans who wielded them to abstractly encompassing the act of work itself, technical proficiency, and later, the organized spheres of industry and engineering. This progression is evident in its classical usage referring to meticulous craftsmanship and its contemporary role as a lexical component in terms denoting labor, workers, and industrial systems, thereby consistently anchoring it to concepts of applied effort and technical execution.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他在作。

Tā zài gōngchǎng gōngzuò.

He works at a factory.

人每天都很忙。

Gōngrén měitiān dōu hěn máng.

Workers are busy every day.

程师设计大楼。

Gōngchéngshī shèjì dàlóu.

Engineers design buildings.

我在业公司上班。

Wǒ zài gōngyè gōngsī shàngbān.

I work at an industrial company.

这个程需要很多人。

Zhège gōngchéng xūyào hěnduō gōngrén.

This project needs many workers.

人们正在修建一条新的公路。

Gōngrénmen zhèngzài xiūjiàn yī tiáo xīn de gōnglù.

The workers are building a new road.

如果你作努力,你会得到奖金。

Rúguǒ nǐ gōngzuò nǔlì, nǐ huì dédào jiǎngjīn.

If you work hard, you will get a bonus.

现代业发展依赖于科技创新。

Xiàndài gōngyè fāzhǎn yīlài yú kējì chuàngxīn.

Modern industrial development relies on technological innovation.