关闭
guānbì · HSK 4
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🚪🔒 关 = shut a gate; 闭 = close/seal — together: shut down / close
关 originally showed a bolt across a gate (门); 闭 also contains 门 with something blocking it. Both characters carry the gate radical 门, so 关闭 doubles down on the meaning: shut and seal.
关 — door 门 + simplified 关 inside
关 is the simplified form of 關. The traditional character showed a gate (門) with a bolt or crossbar inside, depicting a barred door — hence 'to close' or 'shut'. Meaning later extended to 'pass' (a guarded gate), 'barrier', and figuratively 'concern' or 'connection'.
闭 — door 門 + talent 才
Originally written 閉, showing a door 門 with a bar or bolt inside (the 才 component depicts the latch, not the modern meaning 'talent'). The character pictures a door barred shut, giving the meaning 'to close' or 'shut'. The simplified form 闭 keeps the same structure with the reduced door radical 门.