How to Write 褚 (chǔ) — Meaning “a surname; ochre color; to stuff garments”

Imagine a person (者) wearing a coat (衤) that is dyed a brownish-red ochre color — that person is Mr. Chu. This visual links the clothing radical, the person component, and the color meaning all in one image.

Write the left radical 衤 narrow: dot, horizontal, left-falling, vertical, left-falling. Then the right part 者 has 8 strokes: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, left-falling, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal. A common mistake is making the left radical too wide or confusing the order of the two left-falling strokes on the left side.

褚 has 衤 plus 者 (a horizontal, vertical, left-falling, then a bottom like 日), while 袱 has 衤 plus 伏 (person with a dog-like shape). 袴 has 衤 plus 夸 (big over a bent stroke). Their meanings differ: 褚 is a surname or color, 袱 means a cloth wrapper, and 袴 refers to the crotch of pants.

褚 is most commonly used as a surname, like in the historical calligrapher 褚遂良 (Chu Suiliang). It also appears in 褚色 (ochre) for describing a brownish-red color, though this usage is less frequent. It is not included in HSK, so you will mainly encounter it in names or art contexts.

Common words containing 褚 include: 姓褚 (xìng chǔ) — Surname Chu; 褚色 (chǔ sè) — ochre; brownish-red color; 褚公 (chǔ gōng) — Lord Chu (a respectful form of address for someone surnamed Chu).