How to Write 郸 (dān) — Meaning “Dan (used in place names)”

Think of the famous city 邯郸 (Handan) and the idiom 邯郸学步, about a man who tried to imitate Handan people's walking style and failed. Visualize the left radical 阝 as a city wall and the right part 单 as a single person trying to learn new steps inside that city.

The left radical 阝 has two strokes: a hook-shaped stroke (㇌) followed by a vertical stroke, and it should be narrow and tall. The right side 单 has 9 strokes; write the top dots first, then the horizontal lines and vertical, finishing with the bottom horizontal stroke. A common mistake is making the left radical too wide or forgetting the small dot inside the top of 单.

All three share the 阝 radical, but their right parts differ. 郸 has 单 on the right, 邾 has 朱 (meaning "vermilion"), and 郁 has 有 (meaning "have") or another component. In meaning, 郸 is only used in place names like Handan, 邾 is an ancient state name, and 郁 means "fragrant" or "gloomy" in modern Chinese. Visually, 郸's right part has a small dot on top, while 邾 has a vertical line through 朱.

郸 is almost exclusively used in place names, most notably in 邯郸 (Handan), a major city in Hebei province. It also appears in smaller place names like 郸城 (Dancheng). Culturally, Handan is famous for ancient idioms such as 邯郸学步 (slavishly imitate others), making 郸 a character tied to Chinese historical stories.

Common words containing 郸 include: 邯郸 (hán dān) — Handan (a city in Hebei, China); 郸城 (dān chéng) — Dancheng (a place name); 邯郸学步 (hán dān xué bù) — to slavishly imitate others and lose one's own skills (idiom).