早 zǎo early; morning
Made up of [日 rì sun; day radical 72, 十 shí ten; 10 radical 24]Made with 6 strokes.
Picture of sun just above horizon gives the meaning 'early'
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 日 rì component: 白 bái (bright) 曾 céng (once) ; 昌 chāng (prosperous) ; 春 chūn (spring) ; 旦 dàn (dawn) ; 婚 hūn (to marry) ; 间 jiàn (gap) ; 间 jiān (between) ; 景 jǐng (bright) ; 旧 jiù (old) ; 明 míng (bright) ; 莫 mò (do not) ; 普 pǔ (general) ; 晴 qíng (clear sky) ; 是 shì (is) ; 时 shí (time) ; 暑 shǔ (heat) ; 晚 wǎn (evening) ; 香 xiāng (fragrant) ; 星 xīng (star) ; 阳 yáng (yang) ; 易 yì (easy) ; 音 yīn (sound) ; 影 yǐng (picture) ; 照 zhào (according to) ; 者 zhě (in process of) ; 桌 zhuō (table) ; 最 zuì (most) ; 昨 zuó (previous)
Also uses 十 shí component: 半 bàn (half) 德 dé (virtue) ; 盾 dùn (shield) ; 古 gǔ (ancient) ; 华 huá (splendid) ; 卖 mài (sell) ; 南 nán (south) ; 啤 pí (hops) ; 什 shén (what) ; 午 wǔ (noon) ; 载 zài (to carry) ; 直 zhí (straight) ; 支 zhī (to support)
Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 早, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚