How to Write 祸 (huò) — Meaning “Misfortune; disaster; calamity.”

Visualize the left side 礻 as a person kneeling before an altar, and the right side 呙 as a broken or warning sign. Imagine that the altar shows a warning of impending disaster — this "spiritual warning" helps you recall that 祸 means misfortune.

The left radical 礻 must be written with the dot and horizontal line first, then the vertical stroke and a small dot below — be careful not to confuse it with the clothing radical 衤. The right side 呙 starts with a horizontal stroke, then a tilted mouth shape with a vertical line through it; keep the proportion so the left is narrower and the right is wider.

祸 has the right side 呙, while 祓 has 犮 (dog) and 祖 has 且 (ancestor). Meaning-wise, 祸 is negative (disaster), 祖 is positive (ancestor), and 祓 is about cleansing or exorcising bad luck. Visually, the right parts are different — 呙 looks like a cracked mouth, while 祓 has a dog-like component and 祖 has a simple box.

祸 appears in common words like 车祸 (car accident) and 闯祸 (to cause trouble), and is used to describe serious misfortune or harm. Culturally, the phrase 祸不单行 (misfortunes never come singly) is often said to express that bad things often happen together, and the character carries a strong negative tone in warnings or news reports.

Common words containing 祸 include: 车祸 (chē huò) — car accident; 闯祸 (chuǎng huò) — to cause trouble / to get into trouble; 祸害 (huò hài) — Disaster; to harm; scourge..