How to Write 局 (jú) — Meaning “bureau; office; situation”

Imagine a dead body (尸) lying on the floor of an office (like a post office or police station), with a mouth (口) on its side saying 'This is the bureau!' This odd image connects the radical and the mouth component to the meaning 'bureau' or 'office.'

Start by writing the radical 尸: a horizontal stroke, then a left-slanting stroke, and a short right stroke. Next, write the right part: a vertical stroke connecting to a horizontal fold, then a short horizontal line, making sure the whole character is balanced and not too wide.

局 (jú) means bureau or situation, while 尻 (kāo) is a rare character meaning 'tailbone' or 'buttocks,' and 尼 (ní) means 'Buddhist nun.' Visually, 局 has a mouth-like component on the right, 尻 has 九 (nine) on the right, and 尼 has 匕 (spoon) underneath the radical.

局 appears in everyday words like 邮局 (post office), 警察局 (police station), and 局面 (situation). It is also used in compound terms for government bureaus or departments, and culturally it often appears in names of official institutions.

Common words containing 局 include: 邮局 (yóu jú) — post office; 局面 (jú miàn) — situation; aspect; phase; 警察局 (jǐng chá jú) — police station.