How to Write 儡 (lěi) — Meaning “Puppet; tired”

Imagine a person (亻) who is so exhausted from working in three fields (畾) that they move like a puppet, with no energy of their own. The pinyin "lěi" sounds like "lay," as in "lay down from tiredness," which reinforces the meaning.

Pay attention to the vertical alignment of the three 田 (field) components inside 畾 — each 田 should be stacked directly above the one below, not staggered. Also, write the left radical 亻 (2 strokes) first, then the right side 畾 (15 strokes), making 17 strokes total; common mistakes include making the three fields uneven in size.

While 儡 (puppet, tired) has a right side with three fields (畾), 僵 (stiff, rigid) uses a different right component (畺) and means physically stiff or stuck, like a corpse. 僻 (remote, eccentric) has the right side 辟 and means isolated or strange. All three share the person radical, but only 儡 relates to being controlled or exhausted.

儡 appears most often in the word 傀儡 (kuǐ lěi), meaning a puppet — especially a political figure controlled by others. It also occurs in 傀儡戏 (kuǐ lěi xì, puppet show) and rarely in 儡儡 (lěi lěi, exhausted). Culturally, 傀儡 carries a strong metaphorical meaning of lacking independence, often used in discussions of power and control.

Common words containing 儡 include: 傀儡 (kuǐ lěi) — puppet; 傀儡戏 (kuǐ lěi xì) — puppet show; 儡儡 (lěi lěi) — Exhausted; tired.