How to Write 洚 (jiàng) — Meaning “Flood / Overflowing water”

Imagine a heavy rain: the water radical 氵 represents the rain, and the right part 夅 looks like a person falling down, because floods knock people over. So you can remember: "Water (氵) makes people fall (夅) in a flood." This visual link helps recall both the shape and meaning.

When writing 洚, first write the three dots of 氵 from top to bottom, leaving enough space for the right side. The right part 夅 has a short horizontal stroke at the top, then a long downward left stroke, followed by a vertical hook and a final horizontal stroke. A common mistake is to make the right part look like 㐄 (with a different bottom) — remember the bottom of 夅 has a horizontal line crossing the vertical hook.

洚 (jiàng) means floodwater and uses the right component 夅 (descend). 㳄 (yán) means saliva or flowing water and has the right component 欠 (mouth open). 汧 (qiān) refers to a river name or mountain stream and uses the right component 开 (open). Visually, 洚 has a left-falling stroke on top of 夅, while 㳄 has a person-like shape and 汧 has an even top part.

洚 is very rare in modern Chinese and mostly appears in classical literature or ancient texts, such as the phrase 洚水 (jiàng shuǐ) describing the Great Flood in Chinese mythology. In everyday speech, people use the word 洪水 (hóng shuǐ) instead of 洚 to mean "flood." However, 洚 can still be found in some poetic or formal descriptions of overwhelming water.

Common words containing 洚 include: 洚水 (jiàng shuǐ) — Floodwater / Overflowing water; 洚洞 (jiàng dòng) — Vast and boundless water / Flood; 洪水洚 (hóng shuǐ jiàng) — Flood overflow.