How to Write 皴 (cūn) — Meaning “chapped skin”

Imagine that the right part 夋 looks like a wrinkled prune, and the left side 皮 is your skin. If you put a prune against your skin, it becomes dry and chapped – that is 皴. This mental picture links the shape of 夋 to the meaning of chapping.

The radical 皮 is written first with 5 strokes: the fourth stroke is a right-falling hook, and the fifth is a small dot. The right part 夋 has a top component 夂 (three strokes: left-falling, left-falling, right-falling) followed by 允 (four strokes: left-falling, horizontal hook, right-falling, horizontal). A common mistake is confusing the right part with 俊 or 骏 – remember 夋 has a short top and a curved hook below.

Both 皴 and 皱 (zhòu) involve skin issues, but 皴 specifically means chapped or cracked skin from dryness or cold, while 皱 means wrinkles from age or folding. 皲 (jūn) also means chapped skin but is rarer and more literary. Visually, 皱 has the right component 刍 (chú), while 皲 uses 军 (jūn) – only 皴 combines 皮 with 夋.

皴 is not common in everyday conversation but appears in two main contexts: medical descriptions of chapped skin (皴裂, cūn liè) and traditional Chinese painting. In painting, 皴法 (cūn fǎ) refers to specific brushstroke techniques used to create texture on rocks or mountains. You might also hear 皴皮 (cūn pí) when talking about dry winter skin.

Common words containing 皴 include: 皴法 (cūn fǎ) — shading technique in Chinese painting; 皴裂 (cūn liè) — chapped; 皴皮 (cūn pí) — chapped skin.