How to Write 褵 (lí) — Meaning “a bride's sash”

Imagine a bride tying a long, decorative sash (褵) around her dress. The left side 衤 looks like a clothing hook, and the complex right side 離 can be broken into "a short bird (隹) above a fence (凵) with a roof (亠)" — picture the sash draped over a birdcage as a wedding decoration. This unusual image helps link the shape to the meaning of a wedding sash.

Start with the radical 衤: dot, then horizontal left-falling stroke (not a hook), then vertical, then two small strokes on the left — do not connect them. The right side 離 is tall: write 亠 (dot, horizontal), then 凵 (vertical left, horizontal bottom, vertical right), then 隹 (the bird radical) with 9 strokes — be careful to write the small strokes from top to bottom. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or forgetting the small horizontal stroke inside 凵 before 隹.

All three share the 衤 radical (clothing), but their right sides differ completely. 褵 (lí) uses 離 and refers to a bride's sash, while 裨 (bì) has 卑 on the right and means "to benefit" or a minor official. 裰 (duō) has 叕 on the right and means "to patch clothing." Visually, 褵 is much more complex on the right (many strokes), while 裨 and 裰 are simpler and more compact.

褵 is very rare in daily speech and appears mostly in old literary or poetic texts, like the phrase 结褵 (jié lí), which poetically means "to get married." The sash symbolizes the bond between husband and wife, so it is used in formal wedding blessings. Because it is not in the HSK vocabulary, learners will most likely encounter it in classical Chinese literature or traditional wedding ceremonies.

Common words containing 褵 include: 结褵 (jié lí) — To get married (literary).; 佩褵 (pèi lí) — Peili (ancient sash); 褵褷 (lí shī) — disheveled feathers; spreading wings.