How to Write 鼱 (jīng) — Meaning “Shrew”

Think of a shrew as a tiny rat (鼠) that lives in the capital city (京). The capital is busy and noisy, just like a shrew that scurries around quickly. This image helps you remember both the left and right parts of the character.

The left radical 鼠 has many small strokes, so pay attention to the order of its four short vertical strokes inside the body. The right side 京 is simpler, but make sure the top dot is clear and the lower part has a balanced horizontal stroke. A common mistake is to make the left side too wide, so keep the two halves similar in width.

鼱 (shrew) uses the phonetic 京, while 鼯 (flying squirrel) uses 吾 and 鼷 (a type of small rat) uses 奚. Visually the right side of each character is different, and their meanings refer to different animals. In modern usage, 鼱 is almost only seen in the word 鼩鼱 for 'shrew'.

鼱 is a very rare character, found mainly in scientific or biological texts when naming the shrew animal, usually in the compound 鼩鼱 (qú jīng). This character is not used in daily conversation or HSK vocabulary, so most learners encounter it only in advanced zoology or reading about small mammals.

Common words containing 鼱 include: 鼩鼱 (qú jīng) — Shrew; 鼱鼩 (jīng qú) — Shrew; 鼱鼠 (jīng shǔ) — Shrew.