How to Write 妲 (dá) — Meaning “Da (used in names)”

Imagine the sun (日) rising above the horizon (一) at dawn — that is 旦 — and see a woman (女) standing there, whose name is Dá. You can think of the story of 妲己, a beautiful but dangerous woman, and link the dawn symbol to her enchanting appearance.

The left radical 女 must be written with its three strokes: slant, slant, and horizontal; the bottom horizontal should extend slightly to the right to support 旦. On the right, 旦 starts with a vertical stroke going through the top horizontal, then the inner two horizontals, and finally the bottom horizontal; be careful not to make the top horizontal too long. Common mistakes include writing the 女 radical too wide or misplacing the vertical stroke in 旦.

妲 (dá) has the right side 旦 (dawn), while 奸 (jiān) has 干 (gān, shield) on the right and means "wicked" or "adultery." 她 (tā) has 也 (yě, also) on the right and means "she" or "her." Visually, 妲's right component 旦 looks like a sun above a line, whereas 奸's right side is a simple T-shape and 她's right side has a curved hook.

妲 is not a common character in daily life; it appears almost exclusively in the name 妲己 (Dá Jǐ), a famous beauty and consort in Chinese history and mythology. She is often portrayed as a fox spirit who caused the fall of the Shang dynasty, so 妲 carries strong cultural associations with seduction and destruction. You may also see it in fictional or poetic names, but never in ordinary words or HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 妲 include: 妲己 (dá jǐ) — Daji (a famous historical/mythological figure); 苏妲己 (sū dá jǐ) — Su Daji (a famous historical/mythological figure); 妲妲 (dá dá) — Dada (a nickname).