How to Write 遁 (dùn) — Meaning “to escape; to vanish”

Imagine a person holding a shield (盾) and running away (辶) from danger. The shield helps them vanish from sight, so you can think of 遁 as 'shielded escape'.

The radical 辶 (walking) always comes last and its horizontal stroke should be slightly wavy. The inner component 盾 must be written before the radical, and its left vertical stroke should align well to avoid making the character look unbalanced.

遁 means to escape or vanish, often intentionally hiding. 逋 (bū) specifically means to flee from debt or legal trouble, while 逍 (xiāo) appears in 逍遥 meaning leisurely wandering, not escaping. Visually, 遁 uses 盾 (shield), 逋 uses 甫 (begin), and 逍 uses 肖 (resemble).

遁 is used in formal or literary contexts for describing escape or disappearance, like 遁走 (to flee) or 遁形 (to become invisible). A cultural note: in Chinese martial arts and wuxia novels, 遁 can refer to magical vanishing techniques, such as 土遁 (earth escape) used by warriors.

Common words containing 遁 include: 遁走 (dùn zǒu) — to flee; to run away; 遁形 (dùn xíng) — to hide one's form; to become invisible; 遁入 (dùn rù) — to escape into; to withdraw into.