How to Write 墁 (màn) — Meaning “to pave; to plaster”

Imagine a worker using earth (土) to slowly and gently (like 曼 meaning 'slow') spread mud to make a smooth floor. You can also picture a man (sounds like 'man') stretching his arms to smooth out the ground.

The right component 曼 has a top 日, a middle section with two vertical lines inside a frame, and a bottom 又. Keep the left radical 土 slightly smaller than the right side, and be careful to write the middle part's inner strokes before the bottom 又. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or mixing up the stroke order inside the middle box.

墁 (màn) means to pave or plaster with earth materials, while 堙 (yīn) means to bury or block up using soil. Visually, 墁 has the right side 曼, but 堙 uses 垔 (meaning to stop up) and 堞 (dié) has 枼 (meaning leaf or thin piece) and refers to battlements on city walls. So 墁 is about creating flat surfaces, 堙 is about filling holes, and 堞 is about defensive wall structures.

墁 is not in HSK but appears in construction and decoration contexts, such as 墁地 (paving a floor) or 墁砖 (laying bricks). You may see it in technical descriptions of tiling, plastering, or historical building techniques. It is a specialized character that conveys careful manual application of materials to create a smooth surface.

Common words containing 墁 include: 墁地 (màn dì) — to pave the floor; 墁砖 (màn zhuān) — to pave with bricks; 铺墁 (pù màn) — To pave with bricks or stones.