How to Write 黻 (fú) — Meaning “Embroidered pattern on ancient robes”

Imagine the left side 黹 looks like a piece of embroidered cloth with stitches, and the right side 犮 resembles a dog with its legs spread. Picture a dog walking across an embroidered robe, leaving a pattern, and say "fú" as if shooing the dog away.

Pay close attention to the left radical 黹: it has nine strokes and must be written compactly, with the top part like a curved hat and the bottom like a small "巾". The right side 犮 has five strokes, and the hook on the last stroke should not be too large; a common mistake is making the left side too wide.

Both characters share the radical 黹 and refer to ancient embroidery, but 黻 uses the phonetic component 犮 (fú) while 黼 uses 甫 (fǔ). Visually, 黻 has a right side that looks like a dog, whereas 黼 has a right side resembling a square with a dot; in meaning, 黻 specifically refers to a pattern of two animals facing each other.

黻 is extremely rare in everyday Chinese and appears mainly in classical texts or set phrases like 黼黻 (fǔ fú), which describes elegant embroidery or beautiful writing. It also appears in historical words such as 黻冕 (fú miǎn) for ceremonial robes and crown, so you will mostly encounter it in literature about ancient Chinese culture.

Common words containing 黻 include: 黼黻 (fǔ fú) — elegant embroidery; beautiful writing; 黻绣 (fú xiù) — Ritual embroidery; 黻冕 (fú miǎn) — Ceremonial robes and crown.