How to Write 巂 (guī) — Meaning “cuckoo; ancient place name”

Picture a cuckoo bird (隹) sitting on a small green sprout (屮). The bird’s call sounds like "gui," so imagine the sprout saying "goo-ee" as the bird lands on it.

Start with the top part 屮: write a short horizontal stroke, then a vertical stroke through its center, then a slightly longer horizontal stroke at the bottom. Keep the top narrow and balanced above the wider 隹 part below; a common mistake is making the top look like the character 山 instead of a sprout.

Common phrases include 巂周 meaning cuckoo, 子巂 also meaning cuckoo, and 越巂, an ancient place name in modern Sichuan. These terms appear mainly in classical Chinese poetry and historical texts, not in everyday conversation.

巂 is a very rare character, not part of HSK vocabulary, and appears almost exclusively in literary or historical contexts. Culturally, the cuckoo bird it represents is a classic symbol in Chinese poetry for melancholy or longing, often appearing in poems alongside the character 子巂.

Common words containing 巂 include: 巂周 (guī zhōu) — cuckoo; 子巂 (zi guī) — Cuckoo (bird); 越巂 (yuè guī) — Yuexi (an ancient place name in China).