How to Write 裎 (chéng) — Meaning “To strip; nakedness (archaic)”

Imagine a person wearing a coat (衤) who suddenly throws it off to "present" (呈) their bare skin. The right side 呈 looks like a person standing with arms open, and the left side 衤 is clothing — so visualise someone stripping to reveal their body. This links the components to the meaning "to strip" or "naked."

The left radical 衤 (clothing variant) has three strokes: dot, horizontal left-falling, and vertical, and it must be narrow to leave space for the right side. The right side 呈 has a top "sun" (日) that is slightly narrower than the bottom "king" (王), and the final horizontal stroke of 王 should be the widest. A common mistake is making the left side too wide or misaligning the two parts.

裎 (chéng) means "to strip" or "naked" (often in compound 裸裎), while 袍 (páo) means "robe" or "gown" and 袒 (tǎn) means "to bare" or "to expose" as in 袒露. Visually, 裎 has 呈 on the right, 袍 has 包 (wrap), and 袒 has 旦 (dawn). In usage, 裎 is archaic and rare, while 袍 is common and 袒 appears in formal or literary contexts.

裎 is almost never used alone in modern Chinese; it appears only in classical or literary phrases like 裸裎 (luǒ chéng, to be naked) or 裎露 (chěng lù, to expose one's body). These terms are very formal or poetic, and you would likely encounter them in ancient texts or idioms rather than daily conversation. It is not part of the HSK vocabulary and is considered an archaic character.

Common words containing 裎 include: 裸裎 (luǒ chéng) — to be naked; to strip off clothes; 裎露 (chéng lù) — To expose; to reveal (one's body); 裎褐 (chéng hè) — Coarse cloth garment (archaic).