How to Write 酃 (líng) — Meaning “Ling (used in place names)”

Imagine a "Ling" (sounds like "ring") placed over a hill (the left ear radical 阝) — this hill is a famous spot for a lake (酃湖) or wine (酃酒). The right side looks like rain (雨) falling on three mouths (口口口), so picture three people on a hill shouting for a drink of Ling wine.

This character has 19 strokes, so keep the left ear radical narrow and tall. The right side 霝 has a rain component on top (雨) and three small mouths stacked below — make sure the mouths are evenly spaced and not too wide, or the character becomes unbalanced. A common mistake is making the three mouths too large or misaligning the rain radical.

酃 and 酆 both have the 阝 radical and are used in place names, but 酃's right side is 霝 (rain over three mouths) while 酆's right side is 豐 (meaning abundant, with a bean and a stem). 隳 (huī) means "to destroy" and has a different right side (隋 plus a hook) — it is not a place name and is very rare. Visually, 酃 looks like it has three boxes under a cloud, while 酆 is more complex with a double box top.

酃 is almost only found in historical or geographical proper nouns, such as 酃县 (an ancient county in Hunan Province) and 酃湖 (a lake in Hunan). It also appears in 酃酒, a famous traditional rice wine from that region. You will not use this character in everyday conversation — it is mostly seen in travel guides, wine labels, or historical texts.

Common words containing 酃 include: 酃县 (líng xiàn) — Lingxian (an ancient county name); 酃湖 (líng hú) — Ling Lake; 酃酒 (líng jiǔ) — Ling wine (a famous traditional wine).