How to Write 淝 (féi) — Meaning “Fei (name of a river)”

Think of 'fat water' because the right part 肥 means 'fat' or 'fertile', and the left part 氵 is water. Imagine a wide, fertile river called the Fei River flowing through rich farmland. This visual helps link the sound féi to the river name.

Write the water radical 氵 first (three dots), then write the right part 肥: start with the left-falling stroke (月-like component) then finish with 巴. A common mistake is making the right side too narrow or squeezing the dots; keep the left and right balanced, with the water radical taking about one-third of the width.

淝 (féi) is a river name, while 洁 (jié) means 'clean' and 洄 (huí) means 'whirlpool' or 'go upstream'. Visually, 淝 has 肥 on the right, 洁 has 吉, and 洄 has 回. The water radical is the same, so focus on the right component to tell them apart.

淝 appears almost exclusively in place names like 淝河 (Fei River) and 合淝 (an old name for Hefei, now written 合肥). The most famous cultural reference is the Battle of Fei River (淝水之战) in 383 CE, a major historical battle in Chinese history. You will rarely encounter this character outside of geographical or historical contexts.

Common words containing 淝 include: 淝水 (féi shuǐ) — Fei River (in Anhui); 淝河 (féi hé) — Fei River; 合淝 (hé féi) — Hefei (old name).