How to Write 淬 (cuì) — Meaning “To quench or temper”

Imagine a soldier (卒) who has just forged a sword and quickly dips it into water (氵) to harden it — that action is 淬 (quenching). The soldier's helmet (the top part of 卒) even looks like the tongs holding the hot metal. This vivid scene links the components to the meaning.

The left-side water radical 氵 should be written as three compact dots, not stretched out. The right side 卒 has a dot on top, then a left-slanting stroke followed by two horizontal lines — make sure the last vertical stroke goes through the middle, not to the side. A common mistake is making the 卒 part too wide; keep it balanced and slightly taller than the left radical.

洁 (jié) means 'clean' and has 吉 (jís) on the right, while 淬 has 卒. 洄 (huí) means 'to go against the current' and uses 回 (huí) as a phonetic. Visually, 淬's right part 卒 looks like a soldier with a hat, whereas 洁 has a scholar-like 吉 and 洄 has a square 回. In usage, 淬 is only used in the context of tempering or dipping, never for cleanliness or flowing water.

淬 appears in technical terms like 淬火 (cuìhuǒ, quenching metal) and 淬炼 (cuìliàn, to temper or refine skills). It is also used in martial arts or weapon descriptions, e.g., 淬毒 (cuìdú, to dip a blade in poison). Culturally, it evokes the ancient art of sword-making, where repeated heating and quenching created legendary blades.

Common words containing 淬 include: 淬火 (cuì huǒ) — Quenching (in metallurgy); 淬炼 (cuì liàn) — to temper; to refine; to steel oneself; 淬毒 (cuì dú) — To dip in poison.