How to Write 腱 (jiàn) — Meaning “tendon”

Think of 月 (moon/meat) on the left and 建 (to build) on the right. Imagine a builder using strong tendons to lift heavy weights under the moonlight. The "meat moon" holds the building blocks of your body together.

Write the radical 月 first as a narrow vertical shape, then the right part 建. Note that 建 starts with a horizontal stroke (𠃋) not a cross; a common mistake is writing the top right as 聿 instead of the correct 建 stroke order. Keep the left narrow and the right wider to balance the character.

朔 (shuò) means "new moon" or "first day of the month" and has 月 on the left but the right side is 屰 (reverse). 朕 (zhèn) is an ancient royal first-person pronoun used by emperors, with 月 on the left and 关 (or 㐌) on the right. Unlike these, 腱 specifically means tendon and is used in anatomy and cooking.

腱 appears in medical terms like 肌腱 (tendon) and 跟腱 (Achilles tendon), as well as in food: 牛腱子 (beef shank) is a popular braised dish in Chinese cuisine. The term 牛腱子 often appears on menus for its tender, tendon-rich texture.

Common words containing 腱 include: 肌腱 (jī jiàn) — tendon; 牛腱子 (niú jiàn zi) — beef shank; 跟腱 (gēn jiàn) — Achilles tendon.