How to Write 觚 (gū) — Meaning “ancient wine vessel; corner”

Picture a horn-shaped cup (角) that looks like a gourd (瓜) — this is a 觚, an ancient wine goblet. You can also remember that the gourd side gives it a curved, corner-like outline, linking to the 'corner' meaning. The rhyme 'gū like a gourd-hoof' might help recall its pinyin.

Write the left radical 角 first: start with the top horn stroke, then the curved body, and finish with the bottom hook. The right part 瓜 has five strokes: first a leftward stroke (撇), then a hook, a vertical, and finally two dots. A common mistake is making the right side too narrow — balance the width so 瓜 is slightly wider than 角.

觚 (gū) has 瓜 (melon) on the right, while 觖 (jué) has 夬 (a broken jade) on the right and means 'resentment' or 'discontent'. 觜 (zī) has 此 (this) on the right and refers to an owl's beak or a star name. Visually, look at the right-side component: 瓜 has a curved outline, 夬 has a central vertical stroke, and 此 has two horizontal lines with a stop.

觚 is rarely used in daily conversation; it appears mainly in historical or literary contexts. Common words include 酒觚 (jiǔ gū, a ritual wine goblet from ancient times) and 操觚 (cāo gū, a classical term meaning 'to write' or 'to wield a pen'). You may encounter it in museum descriptions or classical poetry, but it is not part of the HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 觚 include: 酒觚 (jiǔ gū) — ancient wine goblet; 棱觚 (léng gū) — Angular or sharp-edged; 操觚 (cāo gū) — to write; to wield a pen.