How to Write 匍 (pú) — Meaning “to crawl; to creep”

Imagine a person with a curved back (like the 勹 radical) crawling on the ground and saying "pú" as they push forward. You can also think of "pú" as the sound of someone crawling slowly. The shape looks like a bent figure with arms and legs tucked in.

First write the outer 勹: a left-falling stroke (丿) followed by a horizontal hook (㇆). Then inside write 甫: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, and a dot. A common mistake is making the outer wrapper too wide or too large, which makes the inner 甫 look squeezed; keep the outer narrow and balanced.

匍 has 甫 inside (meaning to crawl), while 匊 has 米 inside (meaning to hold with hands) and 匋 has 缶 inside (meaning pottery). Visually, the inner parts are different: 甫, 米, and 缶. Their meanings are unrelated, so focus on the inner component to tell them apart.

匍 is used in formal contexts like the word 匍匐 (pú fú) meaning to crawl or prostrate, and 匍匐前进 (crawl forward) is common in military training. It also describes creeping plants in biology. Culturally, crawling is not an everyday action, so this character appears more in literature or specialized descriptions.

Common words containing 匍 include: 匍匐 (pú fú) — to crawl; to prostrate; 匍行 (pú xíng) — to crawl; to creep; 匍匐前进 (pú fú qián jìn) — to crawl forward.