How to Write 翮 (hé) — Meaning “quill; shaft of a feather”

Imagine a large feather (羽) standing upright like an ancient bronze vessel (鬲) – the feather’s hollow shaft resembles the container shape of a 鬲. This visual link helps you recall that 翮 refers to the hard central shaft of a feather.

The left radical 羽 must be written with its bottom hook clearly formed, and the right part 鬲 has a complex structure with multiple horizontal strokes arranged in a narrow, tall shape. A common mistake is to make the right side too wide or to confuse its inner strokes – keep the overall balance narrow left and taller right.

While 翮, 翟, and 翠 all contain the feather radical 羽, their other parts differ: 翮 uses 鬲 on the right, 翟 uses 隹 (bird) beneath, and 翠 uses 卒 beneath. Their meanings also differ – 翮 specifically means the quill or shaft of a feather, 翟 refers to a long-tailed pheasant, and 翠 means kingfisher or green jade.

翮 is quite rare in daily conversation but appears in literary or biological texts, such as in words like 羽翮 (wings or feathers) and 振翮 (to flap wings for flight). It is often used in classical poetry and idioms like 振翮高飞, which symbolically describes rising up and soaring high.

Common words containing 翮 include: 羽翮 (yǔ hé) — wings or feathers; 振翮 (zhèn hé) — to flap wings (to take flight); 翮羽 (hé yǔ) — quill feathers; flight feathers.