How to Write 漆 (qī) — Meaning “Paint / Lacquer”

Imagine the left side (氵) as a pool of liquid paint, and the right side (桼) as a tree with sap dripping down. Picture the tree (木) with two droplets (氵氵) on top and a person (?) below — just remember it as "water from the tree that makes things shiny."

The right side 桼 has a top part that looks like 木 but with two small strokes (丶丶) on top, not a horizontal line. Common mistakes include writing it as 柒 or forgetting the two dots above 木. The left 氵 should be narrow and the right side wider, with the bottom strokes of 桼 extending slightly to the left.

漆 has the water radical and a complex right side (桼), while 渝 (yú) also has water radical but the right side is 俞 (meaning "to change" or a surname). 渡 (dù) also has water radical with 度 on the right, meaning "to cross." Visually, 漆's right side has two dots above a 木, which is unique.

漆 appears in common words like 油漆 (yóu qī, paint) and 漆黑 (qī hēi, pitch black). Lacquerware (漆器) is a traditional Chinese craft with a long history, and the character is also used in place names like 漆县. It is not in the HSK list but is useful for talking about painting or darkness.

Common words containing 漆 include: 油漆 (yóu qī) — Paint; 漆黑 (qī hēi) — Pitch black; 喷漆 (pēn qī) — spray paint.