How to Write 猓 (guǒ) — Meaning “A type of monkey”

Picture a monkey (犭) sitting in a tree, happily munching on a piece of fruit (果). Since 果 sounds like "go" and monkeys go for fruit, this mental image links the character to its meaning of "monkey."

Write the left radical 犭 first with three strokes: a left-falling stroke, a curved hook, then another left-falling stroke. On the right, 果 has nine strokes: first the 日 part (four strokes), then 木 (four strokes) — do not mistakenly add an extra horizontal line. Keep the left side narrow and the right side wider for balance.

猓 has 果 on the right and means a monkey, while 狊 (jú) has a different right component and is rarely used today, often meaning "to see" in ancient texts. 狠 (hěn) uses 艮 on the right and means cruel or fierce — visually, 狠 has a vertical stroke through 艮 that 猓 does not have.

猓 is very uncommon in everyday writing — it does not appear in the HSK word lists. You may encounter it in zoology books for the term 猓然 (guǒ rán, a long-tailed monkey) or in classical literature. Most Chinese speakers simply use 猴 (hóu) for "monkey" instead.

Common words containing 猓 include: 猓然 (guǒ rán) — Long-tailed monkey; 猓猓 (guǒ guǒ) — Monkey; 猓子 (guǒ zi) — Monkey.