How to Write 晁 (cháo) — Meaning “Chao (a Chinese surname)”

Imagine the sun (日) shining on a trillion (兆) people, but only one is named Mr. Chao (晁). This helps you remember that 晁 is a surname used for a person. The visual of 'sun over a trillion' makes the character unique.

Write the top part 日 (sun) first with four strokes, then the bottom part 兆 starting from the left side. Be careful with 兆: it has a left stroke (piě), two dots, then a vertical hook and two more dots on the right. Common mistake is to make the bottom too narrow or misplace the dots.

旺 (wàng) has 日 on top of 王 (king) and means 'prosperous', while 昀 (yún) has 日 on top of 匀 (even) and means 'sunlight'. In contrast, 晁 uses 兆 (zhào) as the bottom and is only a surname. Visually, 晁 has more strokes and distinct dots compared to the simpler bottom parts of 旺 and 昀.

晁 is a rare Chinese surname, not commonly encountered in daily life. Its most famous appearance is in the classic novel Water Margin, where the character 晁盖 (Cháo Gài) is a heroic outlaw leader. When you see 晁, it almost always refers to a person's family name.

Common words containing 晁 include: 晁先生 (cháo xiān shēng) — Mr. Chao; 晁盖 (cháo gài) — Chao Gai (a character from the novel Water Margin); 晁氏 (cháo shì) — the Chao family; the Chao clan.