How to Write 猢 (hú) — Meaning “monkey (used in 猢狲)”

Picture a monkey (犭) sitting next to a "who" (胡 sounds like "who") — imagine the monkey asking "Who am I?" because it's not just any monkey, but a 猢狲. The sound link helps recall the pinyin hú.

Pay attention to the left radical 犭: the first stroke is a short left-falling stroke, then a hook, not a full curve. The right part 胡 has a 古 on top and 月 below; keep the 古 narrow and the 月 wide, and do not make the 月 too tall.

猢 (hú) specifically means a monkey in 猢狲, while 狳 (yú) refers to a type of ancient mythical beast or a pangolin, and 狴 (bì) is a legendary tiger-like beast. Visually, 猢 has 胡 on the right, 狳 has 余, and 狴 has 卑 — each has a different phonetic component.

猢 is almost always used in the compound 猢狲 (hú sūn, "monkey"), and in idioms like 猢狲散 (to scatter like monkeys when a leader falls). It appears in the classic novel Journey to the West, where the Monkey King is called 猢狲王 (hú sūn wáng, "Monkey King").

Common words containing 猢 include: 猢狲 (hú sūn) — monkey; 猢狲散 (hú sūn sàn) — to scatter like monkeys (when the leader falls); 猢狲王 (hú sūn wáng) — monkey king.