How to Write 卦 (guà) — Meaning “trigram / hexagram / divination sign”

Imagine that to tell a fortune (卜), you need to dig through two layers of earth (the two 土 parts stacked in 圭) to find the hidden signs. This "digging for answers" image connects the radical to the stacked earth shape.

Pay attention to stroke order: first write the left radical 卜 (vertical stroke, then a dot on the left side), then the right part 圭 (write the top 土, then the bottom 土). A common mistake is making the left side too large — keep it narrow so the right side has enough space.

All three contain the 卜 component, but 卦 has 圭 (two 土 stacked) on the right, while 卣 has a wide container shape below (like a jar) and 卤 has a closed box below the 卜 (like a brine vat). Their meanings are completely different: 卦 is a divination sign, 卣 is an ancient wine vessel, and 卤 means brine or simple.

卦 appears in the common word 八卦 (bā guà), which in daily life means "gossip" — a playful reference to the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching. The same character is also used in 算卦 (suàn guà, fortune-telling), preserving its ancient role in Chinese divination and philosophy.

Common words containing 卦 include: 八卦 (bā guà) — Gossip or Eight Trigrams; 算卦 (suàn guà) — to tell fortunes (using hexagrams); 卦象 (guà xiàng) — divinatory symbols / hexagram image.