How to Write 疠 (lì) — Meaning “pestilence”

Imagine a sick person (疒) surrounded by ten thousand (万) tiny germs, causing a terrible pestilence. This picture helps you connect the illness radical with the number ten thousand to remember that 疠 means a widespread epidemic disease.

First write the sickness radical 疒 with 5 strokes: dot, horizontal, left-falling, dot, then a short vertical lift. Then add 万 on the right: horizontal stroke, left-falling stroke, and a vertical hook. A common mistake is making the right part too tall or forgetting the hook at the bottom of 万.

疔 (dīng) refers to a deep, painful skin boil, and 疖 (jiē) is a smaller, superficial boil on the skin. In contrast, 疠 (lì) means a severe epidemic or pestilence that affects many people, not just a skin problem. Visually, the right part of 疔 is 丁 (a nail shape), 疖 has 节 (a joint), and 疠 has 万 (ten thousand).

疠 is not common in everyday speech but appears in formal or medical terms like 疫疠 (epidemic) and 疠气 (miasma). In Chinese history, plagues were called 疠, and the character carries a serious, ominous tone when mentioning widespread disease.

Common words containing 疠 include: 疫疠 (yì lì) — pestilence; 疠气 (lì qì) — miasma; 恶疠 (è lì) — Pestilence or malignant disease..