How to Write 脸 (liǎn) — Meaning “face”

Imagine your face is made of meat (⺼ on the left) and the right side 佥 looks like a person with two eyes and a mouth. You can also think of the pinyin "liǎn" as sounding like "lean" — you lean your face forward to show it.

Make sure the left radical ⺼ is written with two short horizontal strokes inside, not like the moon radical 月. The right part 佥 starts with a person shape on top, then two horizontal lines, a vertical hook, and a dot; keep the right side slightly wider than the left.

All three share the meat radical ⺼, but their other parts differ. 脸 has 佥 on the right, 胃 has 田 (field) on top and 月 (meat) on bottom, and 胆 has 旦 (dawn) on the right. Memorize each by their unique component: face = 佥, stomach = field + meat, gallbladder = dawn + meat.

脸 means the physical face, as in 洗脸 (wash face). It is also used metaphorically for dignity or reputation, like 丢脸 (lose face). In Chinese culture, "face" is very important, so this character appears often in social situations involving honor or embarrassment.

Common words containing 脸 include: 洗脸 (xǐ liǎn) — To wash one's face.; 脸红 (liǎn hóng) — to blush; to turn red in the face; 丢脸 (diū liǎn) — to lose face; to be disgraced.