How to Write 酤 (gū) — Meaning “to buy or sell liquor”

Imagine an ancient (古) wine jar (酉) in a marketplace being bought and sold. The word "ancient wine" can remind you that this character is about the transaction of liquor, not just drinking it.

The left radical 酉 must be written with the top horizontal line slightly longer than the bottom, and the inner strokes should not touch the top. The right part 古 has a horizontal stroke crossing the vertical, and the mouth (口) at the bottom should be centered and slightly narrower than the top. A common mistake is making the 古 too wide, disrupting the balance.

酤 specifically means buying or selling liquor (e.g., 酤酒), while 酌 means to pour or drink wine (e.g., 对酌, "to drink together"). 配 means to match, pair, or distribute, and appears in words like 搭配 (to match). Visually, 酤 has 古 on the right, 酌 has 勺 (spoon), and 配 has 己 (self).

酤 is rarely used in everyday modern Chinese; it appears mainly in historical or classical texts like the Records of the Grand Historian (史记) to refer to wine merchants. The word 酤酒 can still be encountered in literary contexts to mean "buying or selling wine," preserving a connection to ancient trade practices.

Common words containing 酤 include: 酤酒 (gū jiǔ) — to buy or sell wine; 屠酤 (tú gū) — butcher and wine seller; 酤卖 (gū mài) — to sell liquor.