How to Write 瘢 (bān) — Meaning “scar; mark; spot”

Think of the radical 疒 as a sick bed, and inside it is 般, which looks like a ship (舟) with an arm holding a weapon (殳). Imagine a person on a sick bed who got in a fight and now has a scar shaped like a ship. This links 'illness' with a visible mark.

Start with the 疒 radical: write the dot, then a horizontal stroke that curves down on the left. Next, write 般: first the left part 舟 (6 strokes: left-falling, left-falling, horizontal hook, dot, horizontal, vertical), then the right part 殳 (4 strokes). Common mistakes are forgetting the dot in 舟 or making the 疒 too small.

瘢 uses 般 inside and means 'scar' or 'spot' on the skin. 痰 has 炎 (double fire) inside and means 'phlegm' in the throat, related to inflammation. 痱 has 非 inside and means 'heat rash' or 'prickly heat' on skin. Their different inner components give them unrelated medical meanings.

瘢 appears mainly in medical or formal writing, such as the word 瘢痕 (bān hén, scar or cicatrix). In everyday speech, people usually say 疤 (bā) for scars instead. It is also found in traditional Chinese medicine texts to describe skin marks from wounds or disease.

Common words containing 瘢 include: 瘢痕 (bān hén) — scar; cicatrix; 瘢点 (bān diǎn) — spot; speckle; blemish; 瘢迹 (bān jì) — scar; trace; mark.