公 gōng public; collectively owned; common

Made up of [八 bā eight; 8 radical 12, 厶 sī private; secret; selfish radical 28]
Made with 4 strokes.
Shows the division (indicated by radical for 8) over the symbol for selfish or private - suggesting division for public benefit
Ancient small seal form Small seal

Related characters


Also uses 八 bā component: 戴 dài (to respect) 分 fēn (divide) ; 共 gòng (common) ; 关 guān (shut) ; 黄 huáng (yellow) ; 陵 líng (mound) ; 六 liù (six) ; 其 qí (his) ; 商 shāng (commerce) ; 四 sì (four) ; 兴 xīng (prosper) ; 穴 xué (cave)
Also uses 厶 sī component: 么 me (what) 能 néng (to be able to) ; 去 qù (go) ; 台 tái (typhoon) ; 雄 xióng (male) ; 云 yún (cloud) ; 至 zhì (to arrive)

Sounds same

工 gōng (work) ; 宫 gōng (palace) ; 功 gōng (accomplishment) ; 弓 gōng (bow) ; 供 gōng (to provide)

Different tone

廾 gǒng (two hands) ; 共 gòng (common)

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Pronunciation

Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

stroke order for 公
Stroke order for character 公, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚

Cities

公主岭 Gongzhuling, Jilin

Proverbs

假公济私 jiǎ gōng jì sī Use public office for personal gain
愚公移山 yú gōng yí shān Anything can be achieved with persistence. The famous story ➚ is that an old man wanted to move a mountain that blocked his path. Despite widespread cynicism he and his descendents gradually wore down the mountain. Mao Zedong used this proverb to persuade people that the seemingly impossible was achievable. One version of the story has the gods taking pity on the old man and removing the mountain with their magical powers
大公无私 dà gōng wú sī Helping everyone else. Not motivated by self-interest.
叶公好龙 Yè gōng hào lóng Pretending to be fond of something which is actually greatly feared. The story is of Duke Ye who decorated whole his house and clothes with dragon motifs. However when a real dragon flew over and landed near his house he trembled in fear. Said of someone hiding their true feelings.
太公钓鱼,愿者上钩 tài gōng diào yú yuàn zhě shàng gōu Trying t o ensnare a gullible person. The ancient story from the Zhou dynasty is of Lord Jiang who used to just hang an unbaited and unhooked line in the air not the water. When asked what he was doing said he was not trying to catch fish but a king who he would serve. After many years of pointless fishing he was appointed to be Prime Minister.
项庄舞剑,意在沛公 xiàng zhuāng wǔ jiàn yì zài pèi gōng An elaborate evil deception. The Duke of Pei was one of the titles of the first Han Emperor (r. 202-195BCE) Liu Bang. Xiang Zuang was a sword-fighter who intended to murder Liu Bang. In order to get close to Liu he performed a sword dance in front of him. fortunately for Liu the plot was unmasked by Fan Kuai and Liu escaped unharmed. Refers to a hidden malicious agenda.

Also

赵公明 Zhào gōngmíng Zhao Gongming Birthday
公鸡 gōng jī cockerel