How to Write 舡 (chuán) — Meaning “boat (variant of 船)”

Imagine a boat (舟) carrying a hardworking person (工) across the river. The simple shape of 工 inside the boat makes it easy to recall that 舡 means a boat. Just remember: a worker on a boat.

The left radical 舟 must be written with the correct stroke order: first the short left-falling stroke, then the vertical hook, and so on. The right part 工 should be centered vertically and not too wide—keep the two parts balanced. A common mistake is making the 舟 too narrow or the 工 too large, which ruins the proportions.

舡 means a general boat (variant of 船), while 舢 specifically refers to a small sampan or a type of wooden boat. 舣 means 'to moor a boat' and is used as a verb, not a noun. Visually, 舡 has 工 on the right, 舢 has 山, and 舣 has 义.

舡 is not common in standard Mandarin; 船 is used instead for 'boat'. However, 舡 still appears in some regional dialects and in historical or literary texts, as well as in compound words like 舡子 (small boat) and 舡户 (boat-dwelling people). It carries a slightly archaic or local flavor, especially in southern China's water communities.

Common words containing 舡 include: 舡子 (chuán zi) — small boat / boatman; 走舡 (zǒu chuán) — To sail a boat.; 舡户 (chuán hù) — boat people / boat dwellers.