How to Write 滂 (pāng) — Meaning “torrential; vast”

Visualize the right side 旁 as a side view of a house with a roof (⺷) and a square (方), and imagine rain pouring down the side of the house so heavily that it floods the ground (氵). This image of "rain beside the house" helps recall both the sound and the meaning of torrential downpour.

The left radical 氵 (three dots) should be written compactly and slightly higher than the right part. The right side 旁 has a dot on top (一点), then a horizontal stroke, followed by a mouth shape (口), and finally 方; be careful not to make the square too big or connect it wrongly to 方. A common mistake is writing the top of 旁 as 立 instead of the correct dot-and-flat stroke.

滂 (pāng) means torrential rain and contains 旁 on the right, while 涪 (fú) is a place name (like Fúlíng) and has 咅 on the right. 涫 (guān) is rarely used and means water boiling or a river name, with 官 on the right. Visually, the right-side components are different: 旁 vs. 咅 vs. 官, so focus on those to tell them apart.

滂 appears mostly in literary or descriptive contexts, such as 滂沱大雨 (pāng tuó dà yǔ) meaning a heavy, torrential rain. It is not common in daily conversation but is used in poetry or weather reports to paint a vivid picture of pouring rain. The character conveys a sense of powerful, unstoppable flow, often evoking the dramatic imagery of a storm.

Common words containing 滂 include: 滂沱 (pāng tuó) — torrential (rain); 滂沛 (pāng pèi) — copious; torrential (of rain); 滂渤 (pāng bó) — vast and surging.