How to Write 坤 (kūn) — Meaning “female / earth (trigram)”

Imagine the left side 土 as a mound of earth, and the right side 申 looks like a vertical line through a square — think of a woman standing firmly on the ground. The shape of 申 can remind you of a "female" symbol if you visualize the central line as a dress. Combine: "woman on earth" equals 坤.

Write the left radical 土 first (horizontal, vertical, horizontal) with the bottom horizontal shorter than the top. Then write 申 from top to bottom: a vertical line through two horizontal lines and a square. A common mistake is making the right side 申 too wide or forgetting the small vertical stroke in the center — keep it balanced with the left side.

坤 (kūn) means "female" or "earth" and is used in words like 乾坤 (heaven and earth). 在 (zài) means "at" or "to exist" and has a different right side (有 with 土). 圩 (xū or wéi) means "fair" or "embankment" and has a 于 component on the right. Visually, 坤 and 在 both have 土 on left, but 在 has an extra stroke in its right part, while 圩 has a different right component.

Common words containing 坤 include: 乾坤 (qián kūn) — heaven and earth; 坤包 (kūn bāo) — women's handbag; 坤表 (kūn biǎo) — women's watch.