How to Write 絻 (miǎn) — Meaning “mourning cap”

Imagine a cap made of silk (糸) that you wear to avoid (免) bad luck during a funeral. This mental picture links the silk material to the idea of exemption, helping you recall both the shape and meaning of 絻.

Write the left radical 糸 first, making it narrow, then the right side 免, which is wider. The last stroke of 免 is a vertical hook that should curve gently left — a common mistake is making this hook too straight or forgetting to curve it.

絻 has 免 (miǎn) on the right, while 紫 has 此 (cǐ) and means 'purple', and 累 has 田 (tián) on top and means 'to accumulate' or 'tired'. Visually, the right side of 絻 has a person-like shape (免) instead of a 'this' or 'field' component.

絻 is very rare in modern Chinese and appears mostly in classical texts about funeral rituals, like the Book of Rites. You might encounter it in historical discussions, museum descriptions of ancient mourning attire, or traditional Chinese funeral customs, but it is not used in daily conversation.

Common words containing 絻 include: 絻冠 (miǎn guān) — Mourning headband and cap.; 絻丧 (miǎn sàng) — mourning rites; 絻服 (miǎn fú) — Mourning clothes..