How to Write 鹳 (guàn) — Meaning “Stork”

Imagine a white stork standing tall with a long beak, and the left side 雚 looks like the stork's head and neck with a crest on top. Then remember that the right side 鸟 means "bird," so you can picture a bird shape next to the head. The pinyin "guàn" sounds like "guan" as in "guanaco," which is also a tall animal.

Start by writing the left component 雚 from top to bottom: first the grass-like top, then the mouth, then the four horizontal strokes and the vertical line. Then write the right component 鸟 with its standard stroke order. A common mistake is confusing the left side 雚 with 草 (cǎo, grass) or 萑 (huán, a type of reed), but 雚 has a specific shape with a "mouth" (口) below the top. Also, be careful not to make the bird radical too small or misplace the dot.

Although 鹳 and 鹴 both have the 鸟 radical, their left sides are different and they have different meanings. 鹳 (guàn) means "stork," while 鹴 (shuāng) refers to a mythical bird or sometimes a type of water bird in ancient texts. Visually, 鹳 has left side 雚 with a mouth-like middle part, whereas 鹴 has left side 相 (xiāng) with a wooden eye-like shape. In modern usage, 鹳 is much more common, especially in words like 白鹳 (white stork).

The character 鹳 is used mainly in formal or scientific names for stork species, such as 白鹳 (bái guàn, white stork) and 黑鹳 (hēi guàn, black stork). It is also found in literary descriptions and place names, like 鹳雀楼 (Guànquè Lóu, a famous tower in Chinese poetry). In Chinese culture, storks are symbols of longevity and good fortune, often depicted with pine trees or cranes in art.

Common words containing 鹳 include: 白鹳 (bái guàn) — White stork; 鹳鸟 (guàn niǎo) — Stork; 鹳巢 (guàn cháo) — Stork's nest.