How to Write 猱 (náo) — Meaning “macaque or long-armed monkey”

Picture a monkey (犭) that is very flexible (柔) as it swings through the trees. The left radical means animal, and the right part reminds you of the word "soft" — imagine the monkey's soft, bendy arms. This helps connect the character to its meaning of a agile monkey.

Write the left radical 犭 first with three strokes: left-falling, left-falling, then right-falling or a hook. Then write the right part 柔, which has many strokes — keep it balanced so the whole character is not too wide. A common mistake is making the left radical too large, so practice writing the two halves in proportion.

猱 (náo) means a macaque monkey and has the right part 柔. 狳 (yú) means armadillo and has 余 (yú) on the right, while 狴 (bì) refers to a mythical beast and has 比 (bǐ) on the right. So the visual clues are the different right-side components, and each character names a different animal.

猱 is rarely used alone today and appears mainly in classical or literary contexts. It appears in words like 猿猱 (apes and monkeys) and 猱升 (to climb nimbly), often in poetry about steep mountains. For example, the Tang poet Li Bai used 猱 in his famous poem "The Hard Road to Shu" to describe monkeys climbing cliffs.

Common words containing 猱 include: 猱升 (náo shēng) — to climb nimbly like a monkey; 猿猱 (yuán náo) — Apes and monkeys; 猱杂 (náo zá) — mixed or jumbled together.