How to Write 磙 (gǔn) — Meaning “stone roller (for leveling ground)”

Imagine a big stone roller (石) rolling over ground, making a sound like "gun" (gǔn). Visualize the right part 衮 as a rolling motion with lines suggesting movement. This image of a heavy stone rolling and flattening the ground will help you recall both the shape and meaning.

Pay attention to the right side 衮: it has a top stroke, then 口 (mouth), and finally 衣 (clothes) without the top dot. A common mistake is writing the bottom of 衮 as 衣 with an extra stroke; it should be 衤 (the clothing radical without the top dot). The left stone radical 石 should be written narrow and balanced, not too wide.

磙 (gǔn) specifically means a stone roller for farming, such as a 石磙 used in threshing. 硼 (péng) is a chemical element (boron) and looks similar but has 朋 on the right. 碇 (dìng) means a stone anchor for boats, with 定 on the right. Their meanings are completely different, and the right-side components are visually distinct.

磙 appears mainly in farming contexts, like 石磙 (stone roller) and 磙子 (roller), describing traditional tools for flattening grain or soil. It is not common in daily conversation, but you may encounter it in historical or rural texts. The character reflects ancient Chinese agricultural technology where stone rollers were essential for threshing.

Common words containing 磙 include: 石磙 (shí gǔn) — stone roller; 磙子 (gǔn zi) — roller; 磙压 (gǔn yā) — roll over / flatten with a roller.