Several parts combine into one character.

善 is a compound ideograph with a beautifully agrarian etymology: 羊 (sheep) on top + originally two 言 (speech) characters below (which over time merged into the simplified bottom now resembling a horizontal block). The composite reads as "exchanging good words like sheep grazing peacefully" = good, virtuous, skilled. The 羊 (sheep) radical also anchors 美 (beautiful) and 養 (to nurture) — sheep represented prosperity and wholesome living to ancient Chinese pastoralists, and "sheep-related" became a metaphor for goodness across multiple characters.

Korean reading "seon." 善行 (seonhaeng, good deed), 改善 (gaeseon, improvement), 親善 (chinseon, "intimate-good" = friendship / amity — used in 친선경기 "friendly match"), 善意 (seonui, good intention), 僞善 (wiseon, hypocrisy — "false goodness"), 善男善女 (seonnam-seonnyeo, "good men and good women" — formal term for ordinary virtuous people, used historically in religious texts).

Mandarin shàn, 4th tone. 善 (shàn), 善良 (shànliáng, "good and benign" = kind-hearted), 改善 (gǎishàn, to improve), 善于 (shànyú, "to be good at / skilled in" — productive verb pattern: 善于学习 "good at learning"), 伪善 (wěishàn, hypocrisy). Confucian 至善 (zhìshàn, "highest good") is a foundational ethical concept.

Japanese on-reading ゼン (zen) — 善行 (zenkō, good deeds), 改善 (kaizen — globally famous as the Toyota Production System concept of "continuous improvement"), 偽善 (gizen, hypocrisy), 善悪 (zen'aku, good and evil). Kun-reading よい (yoi, "good") — 善い (yoi). Most importantly: カイゼン (kaizen, "improvement") — originating from Toyota's manufacturing philosophy of incremental constant refinement, the term entered global business English directly from Japanese as "Kaizen" — now taught in management programs worldwide. The kanji compound 改善 became one of Japan's most consequential vocabulary exports, alongside ramen, tsunami, and emoji.

Memory aid: sheep (羊) + good speech (言) — peaceful sheep and good words = goodness. Pair with 悪 (evil).