空
kōng · empty / sky / emptiness💡 How to pronounce
k → like the 'k' in 'kite'. ōng → like 'ong' in 'song' with a high flat tone.
📖 The Story
空 is emptiness — but not the emptiness of nothing. In Buddhist philosophy, 空 (śūnyatā) means that nothing exists independently — everything is connected. The character shows a hole (穴) in something (工) — emptiness as a quality, not a lack.
🎬 In Culture Today
The Heart Sutra, one of the most important Buddhist texts, teaches that 'form is emptiness, emptiness is form' (色即是空，空即是色). In Chinese movies, 空 often appears in dramatic moments — the space where something important happened.
📝 Example Sentences
天空很蓝。
The sky is very blue.
这里有很多空间。
There is a lot of space here.