How to Write 袮 (mí) — Meaning “You (archaic variant) or ancestral temple”

Think of 'you' (尔) wearing a fancy piece of clothing (衤) like a robe. Imagine an ancient person pointing to you and saying, '袮, come here!' This links the clothing component with the archaic 'you' meaning.

Pay attention to the left radical 衤: it has a dot on top of a left-slanted stroke, and then a vertical stroke with a hook. The right side 尔 starts with a small top hook, then a left-to-right horizontal stroke, and ends with two small strokes below. Make sure the left side is slightly narrower than the right.

袮 has a right side 尔, while 衩 has 叉 (fork) and 衫 has 彡 (hair/pattern). In meaning, 袮 is an old variant of 'you' or 'ancestral temple', whereas 衩 means 'slit in a garment' and 衫 means 'shirt' or 'unlined upper garment'. The visual differences are in the right-hand components.

袮 is very rare in modern Chinese and not part of the HSK vocabulary. It appears mainly in historical texts or as a character in names, like the famous Han dynasty figure 袮衡 or the anime character 袮豆子 (Nezuko from 'Demon Slayer'). Most learners encounter it only through cultural references.

Common words containing 袮 include: 袮豆子 (mí dòu zi) — Nezuko (a popular anime character); 袮衡 (mí héng) — Ni Heng (a famous historical figure from the Han Dynasty); 袮字 (mí zì) — The character '袮'.