How to Write 㢆 (chán) — Meaning “A marketplace or a residence.”

Imagine a roof (广) covering a busy neighborhood (里) where people shop and live. This visual of a sheltered community helps you remember that 㢆 means both a marketplace and a residence.

Write the radical 广 first: dot, horizontal stroke, then a left-falling stroke that should be long enough to cover the top of 里 below. Inside 里, pay attention to the order: the upper 日 (four strokes) then the lower 土 (three strokes). A common mistake is making the 里 too tall or too wide, so keep it compact under 广.

All three share the radical 广, but the inner parts differ. 㢆 has 里 inside, meaning a marketplace or residence. 底 (dǐ) contains 氐, meaning bottom or base, while 庖 (páo) contains 包, meaning kitchen. So 㢆 is specifically about a marketplace or living space, not a location's bottom or a cooking area.

㢆 is a rare character not in the HSK vocabulary, so you'll mainly see it in classical texts, historical descriptions, or place names. For example, 市㢆 (shì chán) means 'marketplace' and 㢆舍 (chán shě) means 'residence' – these terms appear in literary or traditional writing rather than everyday conversation.

Common words containing 㢆 include: 㢆里 (chán lǐ) — A marketplace or neighborhood.; 市㢆 (shì chán) — marketplace / shops; 㢆舍 (chán shě) — A residence or dwelling..