手

Anatomical hand; metonymically, agency or skill (e.g., in contexts of labor, art, or administration, referring to the capability of an individual or the act of managing).

• Noun: The physical organ or the agent.
• Attribute: A modifier meaning "manual" or "hand-held."
• Agentive Shorthand: Used to refer to the person performing an action (e.g., "a skilled hand").

In early or less precise texts, the boundary between "hand" (手) and "arm" (臂) can occasionally blur; where a passage describes reach or gesture, consider if the term refers to the entire upper limb.

Variant U+624C is calligraphic and carries no semantic distinction from the standard form.

Distinguish between the standalone glyph and its role as a semantic component (the radical 扌). While the radical signals a verb of manual action, the standalone character remains almost exclusively nominal.

While later usage allows 手 to shade into "means" or "method," this is generally a later development; in early texts, prioritize agency over technique.