How to Write 骢 (cōng) — Meaning “piebald horse”

Imagine a horse (马) that is so fast its spots blur together – the right side 悤 looks like a horse running in a circle (囗) with a heart (心) pounding. You can think: 'A horse with a heart that races, and its coat is piebald.'

Write the left radical 马 first with 3 strokes, then the right part 悤 with 11 strokes. Be careful: the right side has a tall 囗 (enclosure) and a 心 below, but the bottom of 囗 should not close fully – it is like a square with an opening. A common mistake is making 心 too wide; keep it narrow under 囗.

骢 means a piebald horse, 骗 (piàn) means to deceive or cheat, and 骘 (zhì) originally meant a stallion but is now used in formal terms for 'to determine'. Visually, 骢 has 悤 on the right, 骗 has 扁, and 骘 has 陟 – so the right components are completely different. In modern use, 骢 is rare and only appears in classical or poetic contexts.

骢 is a classical word rarely used in daily speech; you might see it in historical novels, poems, or descriptions of horses. For example, in the phrase 青骢马 (qīng cōng mǎ, dappled gray horse), it describes a horse with mixed gray patches. The character also appears in the name of the famous ancient horse 乌骢 (wū cōng, dark piebald horse) associated with the warrior Xiang Yu.

Common words containing 骢 include: 青骢马 (qīng cōng mǎ) — Dappled gray horse; 骢马 (cōng mǎ) — dappled horse; 乌骢 (wū cōng) — dark piebald horse.