How to Write 旡 (jì) — Meaning “Ji (radical / ancient character)”

Imagine a person (like a stick figure) who has turned their head to the side with their mouth open, as if gasping for air. The top part looks like a tilted head, and the bottom lines suggest the body, helping you recall its link to choking or stopping.

Start with the left-falling stroke, then the horizontal stroke across the top, followed by the vertical hook downward, and finish with the last short stroke. Common mistakes include making the top horizontal too long or forgetting the hook on the vertical stroke.

旡 is rarely used alone in modern Chinese; it appears mainly as a radical called 旡部 (jì bù). You may encounter it in historical texts or as a component in other characters, but it has no common phrases in everyday language.

旡 is not part of the HSK vocabulary and is almost never used in modern spoken or written Chinese. It survives only as a radical in character dictionaries and in the names of certain ancient objects, so learners will mostly see it when studying radical forms.

Common words containing 旡 include: 旡 (jì) — Ji (radical / ancient character); 旡部 (jì bù) — Radical 'Ji'.