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 ➚