How to Write 锔 (jū) — Meaning “To mend with staples (pottery/metalware)”

Imagine a metal staple (钅) being hammered into a crack in a bowl, and the sound it makes is "ju" — like the pinyin jū. You can also think of "ju" as short for "jump" because the staple jumps across the break to hold the pieces together.

The left side 钅 (metal radical) is written first: three strokes — short horizontal, horizontal hook, and vertical. The right side 居 has nine strokes, starting with the top 尸 (horizontal, horizontal, left-falling hook) then the bottom 古. A common mistake is to make the bottom part 古 too wide; keep it narrow so the character is balanced.

锔 (jū) means to mend with staples, while 钰 (yù) is a poetic term for treasure or hard metal, and 钱 (qián) means money or coin. Visually, 锔 has the phonetic 居 on the right, whereas 钰 has 玉 (jade) and 钱 has 戋 (small/slight). Practice writing the right-side components to avoid confusion.

锔 is a traditional craft term used for mending ceramic bowls, pots, or metalware with metal staples, a skill known as "锔瓷" (jū cí). Today it is less common in daily life but still appears in contexts about antique repair or traditional handcrafts. The character evokes the image of the old Chinese repairman who could fix anything by drilling and stapling.

Common words containing 锔 include: 锔碗 (jū wǎn) — To mend a bowl with staples; 锔子 (jū zi) — Staple (for mending pottery); 锔锅 (jū guō) — To mend a pot with staples.