How to Write 溧 (lì) — Meaning “Li (used in place names)”

Imagine a chestnut (栗) floating on a river (氵) — this combines both parts of the character. The picture of a chestnut in water can help you recall that 溧 sounds like lì and is used in water-related place names like 溧水.

When writing 溧, first write the three-dot water radical (氵) on the left, keeping it narrow. The right side 栗 has 10 strokes; be careful to write the top part (一丨フ) correctly and avoid making the chestnut component too wide. A common mistake is mixing up the strokes inside 栗, so practice writing it slowly.

溧 (lì) has 栗 on the right and is used in place names like 溧水. 涪 (fú) has 咅 on the right and appears in 涪陵 (a district in Chongqing). 涫 (guàn) has 官 on the right and can mean "to boil" or is used in place names like 涫河. The different right-side components change both pronunciation and meaning.

溧 is almost exclusively used in place names, most notably 溧水 (Lìshuǐ, a district in Nanjing) and 溧阳 (Lìyáng, a city in Jiangsu). You will rarely see it outside of geographical contexts, so learning it is mainly useful for reading maps or travel information about eastern China.

Common words containing 溧 include: 溧水 (lì shuǐ) — Lishui (a district in Nanjing); 溧阳 (lì yáng) — Liyang (a city in Jiangsu); 溧河 (lì hé) — Li River.