How to Write 崔 (cuī) — Meaning “Cui (a common surname); towering”

Imagine a short-tailed bird (隹) trying to fly over a mountain (山) but feeling too short to reach the top — that's 'towering' (崔) above it. Alternatively, think of Mr. Cui (崔先生) as a tall man standing on a mountain peak, looking down like a bird.

The stroke order begins with the mountain radical: vertical stroke, left curve, right short vertical, then bottom horizontal. Then write 隹: left vertical, dot on top, then four horizontal strokes and a final vertical. A common mistake is making the mountain too wide or the bird component too narrow — keep them balanced at about the same width.

崔 uses the mountain radical with a bird component and means a surname or 'towering'. 峇 (kè) is rare and means 'tight' or 'narrow', with 山 over 合 (combine), while 峋 (xún) appears in 嶙峋 (lín xún) meaning 'jagged rocks'. Unlike 崔, 峇 and 峋 are not common surnames and have no bird component.

崔 is most commonly used as a surname — for example, 崔先生 (Mr. Cui). It also appears in literary phrases like 崔巍 (cuī wēi) meaning 'towering and lofty', often describing mountains. Culturally, 崔 is a well-known Chinese surname with historical figures like the Tang dynasty poet Cui Hao.

Common words containing 崔 include: 崔先生 (cuī xiān shēng) — Mr. Cui; 姓崔 (xìng cuī) — Surname Cui; 崔巍 (cuī wēi) — towering; lofty.