U+54CF "哏" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

U+54CF "哏" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a Chinese character primarily pronounced as "gén" in Mandarin, though it also has an alternative reading of "hěn" in some contexts. It is composed of the radical "口" (mouth, meaning related to speech or sound) and the phonetic component "艮," and its core meanings revolve around ideas of humor, jest, or amusing antics, often describing a comical person or amusing situation in colloquial Chinese. In modern usage, the character is famously associated with the term "捧哏," referring to the straight man or supporting role in the traditional Chinese comic dialogue performance Xiangsheng (crosstalk), who feeds lines to the lead comedian. Beyond comedy, it can also carry a slightly negative connotation of being sly or cunning in certain dialects, and it is occasionally used in transliterations for foreign names or terms.