How to Write 圂 (hùn) — Meaning “Pigsty / Latrine”

Picture a pig (豕) trapped inside a square fence (囗) — that is a pigsty. To also remember it means 'latrine', think of the pigsty also serving as an outdoor toilet in ancient times.

First write the outer enclosure 囗 in three strokes (left vertical, top horizontal + right vertical, bottom horizontal). Then write 豕 inside, making sure its central vertical stroke does not touch the top of 囗 and that the pig's legs (left and right strokes) stay inside the box.

囷 (qūn) has 禾 (grain) inside and means a round granary, while 圂 has 豕 (pig) and means pigsty or latrine. 囹 (líng) has 令 inside and means a prison. Visually, the inner element is the key difference: pig vs. grain vs. a phonetic component.

圂 is a classical character rarely used alone in modern Chinese; it appears in formal or literary words like 圂厕 (toilet) and 圂圈 (pigpen). It is not in the HSK list, so learners mainly encounter it in historical texts or discussions of ancient farming and sanitation.

Common words containing 圂 include: 圂厕 (hùn cè) — Latrine / Toilet; 圂圈 (hùn quān) — Pigpen / Pigsty; 圂中 (hùn zhōng) — In the pigsty / In the latrine.