How to Write 蛊 (gǔ) — Meaning “poison; bewitch”

Picture a dish (皿) crawling with insects (虫) — that is a dangerous poison you should avoid. The pinyin gǔ sounds like "goo," and you can imagine a sticky, poisonous goo.

Write the top 虫 narrow and compact, then make the bottom 皿 wider to balance the character. A common mistake is making the top too big or forgetting the final horizontal stroke at the bottom of 皿.

虹 and 虺 both have 虫 on the left side with another component on the right, while 蛊 has 虫 on top and 皿 on the bottom. In meaning, 虹 means rainbow and 虺 means a viper snake, so they are unrelated to poison or sorcery.

You find 蛊 in words like 蛊惑 (to delude or bewitch) and 蛊毒 (Gu poison). It appears mostly in fantasy stories, historical texts, or discussions of traditional sorcery, not in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 蛊 include: 蛊惑 (gǔ huò) — to delude; to bewitch; 中蛊 (zhōng gǔ) — To be bewitched; to be poisoned by Gu; 蛊毒 (gǔ dú) — Gu poison; venom used in sorcery.