How to Write 堆 (duī) — Meaning “pile; heap; stack”

Imagine you are piling up a heap of earth (土), and a bird (隹) lands on top of the pile. The bird says "duī, duī" as it pecks at the dirt, which sounds like the pinyin "duī".

Write the left radical 土 narrow and short, then add the right part 隹 with careful strokes: start with a left vertical, then a dot, then horizontal, then left vertical, and finally the long horizontal at the bottom. A common mistake is making the right part look like 住 (to live) or 佳 (good), so keep the vertical strokes straight and the bottom horizontal thicker.

堆 (duī) means 'pile' and has a left-right structure (土 + 隹). 型 (xíng) means 'model or type' and is a top-bottom structure (刑 on top + 土 below). 垌 (dòng) refers to a 'cave or field' and uses 同 on the right instead of 隹. So focus on 堆's bird-like right side and its meaning of heaping things.

堆 is common in words like 一堆 (a pile) and 堆雪人 (to build a snowman). Building snowmen is a popular winter activity in China, especially in northern regions where heavy snow occurs, and the character captures the action of piling snow into a human shape.

Common words containing 堆 include: 一堆 (yī duī) — a pile; a heap; 堆雪人 (duī xuě rén) — to build a snowman; 土堆 (tǔ duī) — Mound; heap of earth.