ChiramiWhy the kanji for danger is a person on a cliff (危)
The kanji for danger is 危, the kanji in 危ない (abunai), dangerous, and the first half of 危険 (kiken), danger. Its shape is a little scene: at the top, a person stands at the edge of a cliff, and under the cliff another person crouches. Once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to forget.
What the kanji says
⺈, at the top, is a person, leaning out over the edge.
厂 is a cliff: a flat top with a steep drop down the left side. You’ll find it in other kanji too, such as 原 (hara), a field or plain, and 岸 (kishi), a shore.
㔾, at the bottom, is a person kneeling or crouching.
Where it comes from
This time the picture and the history agree. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, defines 危 as “being high up and afraid”, and reads it as a person up on a cliff, plus a kneeling figure who holds back. Earlier, in the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago, it was sometimes written simply as a person on top of a mountain.
The video calls the crouching figure “someone below”. In the Shuowen’s reading, it’s someone holding back: crouching low, afraid to go any further. Both work as a picture of danger.
How to use it
危ない！
Abunai!
Watch out!
夜、一人で歩くのは危ないよ。
Yoru, hitori de aruku no wa abunai yo.
It's not safe to walk alone at night.
危ないところだった。
Abunai tokoro datta.
That was close.
危険ですので、中に入らないでください。
Kiken desu node, naka ni hairanaide kudasai.
It's dangerous, so please don't go inside.
- 危ない！ is what you shout when someone is about to step into the road or touch something hot. It works like “watch out” or “careful” in English.
- 危ない also means risky: 危ない橋を渡る (abunai hashi o wataru), “to cross a dangerous bridge”, means to take a big risk, much like “skating on thin ice”.
- 危険 (kiken) is the noun, danger, and it’s what warning signs say. It often appears next to 立入禁止 (tachiiri kinshi), no entry, which ends with 止, stop: good advice near a cliff.
- 危うく (ayauku) means “nearly”, for things that almost went wrong: 危うく遅刻するところだった (ayauku chikoku suru tokoro datta), “I was nearly late”.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 危ない | abunai | dangerous; watch out |
| 危険 | kiken | danger |
| 危機 | kiki | crisis |
| 危うく | ayauku | nearly, narrowly |
| 危険物 | kikenbutsu | hazardous materials |
Remember it
Someone leans out over a cliff edge (⺈ on 厂). Below, a friend crouches (㔾) and shouts 危ない！ The next kanji they both need is 止: stop.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.
危dangerous, fear, uneasy
- On
- キ ki
- Kun
- あぶ(ない) abu(nai) · あや(うい) aya(ui) · あや(ぶむ) aya(bumu)
- Strokes
- 6
- Level
- JLPT N3
Common word 危ない あぶない abunai, dangerous; risky