noun / adjective HSK 4
shǒu gōng
handmade · handicraft · manual work · handwork

Meaning

手工 refers to things made by hand rather than by machine, or the craft and skill involved in making things manually. It emphasizes the artisanal, personal quality of creation and can describe both the process of making something by hand and the handmade objects themselves.

Usage

Commonly used to describe handmade goods, crafts, or manual labor. In modern contexts, 手工 often carries positive connotations of quality, authenticity, and care. Frequently appears in compounds like 手工艺品 (handicrafts) or as a modifier before nouns (手工制作 - handmade). Can also refer to manual labor costs in some contexts.

Examples

  1. 01
    这些手工饼干是我妈妈做的。
    Zhèxiē shǒu gōng bǐng gān shì māma zuò de.
    These handmade cookies were made by my mom.
  2. 02
    手工制作的家具比机器生产的更有温度。
    Shǒu gōng zhì zuò de jiā shēng chǎn de gèng yǒu wēn .
    Handmade furniture has more warmth than machine-produced furniture.

Characters

Measure words

  • jiàn一件手工艺品
  • 一个手工作品

Common collocations

  • 手工制作
    shǒu gōng zhì zuò
    handmade, made by hand
  • 手工艺品
    shǒu gōng pǐn
    handicraft product
  • 手工
    chún shǒu gōng
    purely handmade
  • 手工
    zuò shǒu gōng
    to do handicrafts

Antonyms

Origin

Literally combines 手 (hand) and 工 (work/craft), directly expressing the concept of work done by hand.

Related