How to Write 吉 (jí) — Meaning “Lucky or auspicious”

Imagine a scholar (士) smiling with a wide mouth (口) because he just heard lucky news. The shape of 吉 also looks like a small gift box tied with a ribbon, which reminds you of receiving something lucky. Visualizing this happy scene will help you recall that 吉 means good fortune.

Write the top part 士 first: horizontal stroke, then vertical stroke, then a shorter horizontal (total 3 strokes). Then write 口: left vertical, bottom horizontal+right vertical (one stroke), then the closing horizontal (3 more strokes, total 6). A common mistake is making the top horizontal too long, which makes the character look unbalanced—the top should be slightly narrower than the bottom 口.

Compared to 吉, 古 (gǔ, meaning old) has a 'ten' (十) on top instead of 'scholar' (士)—the top of 古 is a cross that goes through the vertical line. 卟 (bǔ, a rare character) has a 'divination' element (卜) on top that looks like a dot with a vertical line, while 吉's top has two horizontal lines. Visually, 吉 looks more balanced with two parallel top strokes.

吉 appears in common words like 吉利 (jí lì, lucky) and 吉祥 (jí xiáng, auspicious), often used in greetings during festivals like Chinese New Year. It is also used in the loanword 吉他 (jí tā, guitar) for its sound. Culturally, 吉 is considered very positive and is frequently seen on decorations, red envelopes, and couplets to attract good luck.

Common words containing 吉 include: 吉利 (jí lì) — Lucky or propitious; 吉祥 (jí xiáng) — Auspicious or lucky; 吉他 (jí tā) — Guitar.