How to Write 妃 (fēi) — Meaning “imperial concubine; consort”

Imagine a woman (女) sitting next to herself (己) in a palace, meaning she is the emperor's own consort. The shape of 己 also looks like a curled-up figure, reminding you of a royal lady resting in her chambers.

The left part 女 is written with three strokes: first a left-slanting stroke (撇), then a horizontal stroke with a turn (横折折撇), and finally a short horizontal (横). The right part 己 has a horizontal hook (横折) on top and a vertical hook (竖弯钩) at the end, but be careful not to make the top part too wide.

妃 (consort) uses the radical 女 with 己 (self), while 奴 (slave) uses 女 with 又 (hand), showing a woman controlled by force. 奶 (milk) uses 女 with 乃 and means breast or milk, often referring to a mother or nurse. Visually, 妃 has the straight bottom of 己, unlike the curved stroke in 又 or the slanted 乃.

妃 appears mainly in historical or royal contexts, like 王妃 (princess consort) or 贵妃 (imperial consort), referring to official titles in ancient Chinese courts. Today it is uncommon in daily speech but still used in TV dramas, novels, and discussions of historical figures like Yang Guifei (杨贵妃).

Common words containing 妃 include: 王妃 (wáng fēi) — Princess consort; 贵妃 (guì fēi) — Imperial consort; 妃子 (fēi zǐ) — imperial concubine.