全 quán shows 入 (rù, enter) standing over 玉 / 王 (yù, jade). The top element is 入, to enter or bring in, and below it sits the jade radical, written 王 in this position. Read together, the early sense is the jade brought in and found flawless, pure and without crack or flaw. From unblemished jade came the whole field of meaning: complete, intact, perfect, and from there simply whole or entire.

The traditional and simplified forms are identical, so 全 is one glyph in both scripts. The jade element appears as 王 here because the radical 玉 drops its dot when it sits as a component, the same shape that anchors 玉, 国, and 班.

Three senses branch from the flawless jade:

1. Whole, entire, all. The complete set with nothing left out: 全部 quánbù (all of it), 全体 quántǐ (the entire body of people), 全国 quánguó (the whole country), 全家 quánjiā (the whole family).
2. Complete, intact. Whole in the sense of unbroken and lacking nothing: 完全 wánquán (completely), 齐全 qíquán (complete in range), 保全 bǎoquán (to preserve intact).
3. Entirely (adverb). Sweeping up the whole of something at once: 全都 quándōu (all, every one), 全靠 quánkào (to rely entirely on).

The thread is wholeness with nothing missing and nothing flawed. Whether the field is a set of things (the entire country), a condition (intact and unbroken), or the reach of an action (relying wholly on one thing), 全 names the complete and unblemished whole.

The second sense reaches back to the flawless jade: not "all the members of a set," but "whole, intact, lacking nothing." When 全 pairs with 完 wán (finished) to make 完全, it becomes the everyday adverb for "completely," covering both the positive (完全正确, completely correct) and the negative (完全不懂, do not understand at all). The wholeness here is qualitative, a thing that is sound and entire rather than partial or broken.

The same sense drives 齐全 qíquán, said of a stock or a range that is complete with nothing missing, and 保全 bǎoquán, to keep something intact and unharmed. Listen for the contrast with 缺 quē (to lack) and 残 cán (broken, incomplete): wherever a thing is unbroken, sound, and entire, 全 is the word that names it.

Standing before a verb, 全 works as an adverb meaning "entirely, all of it." It often teams with 都 dōu (all) to make 全都 quándōu, doubling the sense of totality: 他们全都来了 "every single one of them came," 钱全都花光了 "the money is all spent." The 全 sweeps over the whole subject or object, and 都 echoes it, so nothing escapes.

The adverbial 全 also fronts a verb to say "rely wholly on" or "act with the full of": 全靠 quánkào "to depend entirely on" (这件事全靠你了, "this whole thing rests entirely on you"), 全力 quánlì "with all one's strength." This is the temporal and dynamic cousin of the static whole: where 全部 gathers a set of things, the adverbial 全 gathers the whole force or reach of an action and throws it at one point.

Picture a piece of jade carried in through a doorway, 入 over 玉, and held up to the light: turn it, and there is no crack, no flaw, no missing corner. That flawless, complete stone is the whole of 全. Everything the character means is jade that lacks nothing.

On a set of things, that wholeness is "all of them" (全部, 全国, 全家). On a condition, it is "intact and unbroken" (完全, 齐全, 保全). On an action, it is the full force thrown at one point (全力以赴, 全靠). Whenever you meet 全, ask what whole is being held up to the light, and you will find it complete, with nothing left out.