How to Write 鹑 (chún) — Meaning “quail”

Picture a quail (bird) enjoying itself, because the left part 享 looks like a person raising arms in celebration. Think of it as an "enjoying bird" to recall that 鹑 stands for the quail, a bird often seen in peaceful settings.

The left part 享 has eight strokes, while the right part 鸟 has five, so keep the left side slightly narrower and the right side wider. A common mistake is confusing the bottom hook of 鸟 with that of 马; remember that 鸟 ends with two dots and a hook that curves inward.

The character 鸷 (zhì) means "fierce predatory bird" and uses the phonetic 执 (zhí) instead of 享, while 鸸 (ér) stands for "emu" and uses 儿 (ér) as its phonetic. In contrast, 鹑 always refers to a quail and is only used in words like 鹌鹑 (ān chún).

鹑 is rarely used alone; it almost always appears in the compound word 鹌鹑 (ān chún), meaning "quail." You will see it on menus for dishes like 鹌鹑蛋 (ān chún dàn, quail eggs) or in references to the traditional game 斗鹌鹑 (dòu ān chún, quail fighting).

Common words containing 鹑 include: 鹌鹑 (ān chún) — quail; 鹌鹑蛋 (ān chún dàn) — quail egg; 斗鹌鹑 (dòu ān chún) — Quail fighting.