How to Write 宄 (guǐ) — Meaning “Traitor or internal enemy.”

Imagine a house (宀) and inside it a crooked person shaped like the number 九, sneaking around as a traitor. The 九 looks like a bent figure hiding under a roof, which reminds you that 宄 means an internal enemy.

First write the roof radical 宀 with three strokes: dot, horizontal, left-falling. Then write 九 with a left-falling stroke followed by a horizontal bend hook. Make sure the 九 is centered under the roof and not too wide; a common mistake is making the hook too large or misaligning the parts.

宀 is only a radical, not a standalone character, while 宄 is a full character. 宁 (níng, peace) has 宀 plus 丁 (a vertical stroke with a hook), whereas 宄 has 宀 plus 九 (a curved shape). In meaning, 宁 is positive (peace), but 宄 is negative (traitor).

宄 is very rare in modern Chinese and appears mainly in classical texts or fixed phrases like 奸宄 (evildoers). It describes internal traitors or enemies within a group. You may encounter it in historical or literary contexts, but not in everyday speech.

Common words containing 宄 include: 奸宄 (jiān guǐ) — Evildoers; 宄慝 (guǐ tè) — A wicked person or evil-doer.; 寇宄 (kòu guǐ) — bandits and traitors.