How to Write 屺 (qǐ) — Meaning “Bare hill (without trees)”

Imagine a mountain (山) that is so bare it looks like your own self (己) standing alone on top of it. The hill has no trees, just like the empty, simple shape of 己. This visual link helps you recall that 屺 means a bare hill.

Write the left radical 山 first (three strokes: vertical, then left-falling and right-falling from the top). Then add 己 on the right (three strokes: horizontal fold, horizontal, vertical hook). A common mistake is making 己 too wide or forgetting the hook at the bottom; keep it compact so the whole character stays balanced.

屺 (qǐ) means a bare hill, while 屹 (yì) means to stand tall and upright, often used in 屹立. Visually, 屹 has 乞 on the right instead of 己. 屾 (shēn) is a rare character meaning two hills, written with two 山 radicals side by side (屾). Their meanings and shapes are clearly different.

屺 is not common in daily conversation, but it appears in classical poetry and set phrases. For example, 陟屺 (zhì qǐ) comes from the Classic of Poetry and describes climbing a hill to miss one's mother. The related term 屺岵 (qǐ hù) expresses longing for one’s parents. These uses are mostly literary and cultural.

Common words containing 屺 include: 屺山 (qǐ shān) — Bare mountain; 陟屺 (zhì qǐ) — climbing a hill to miss one's mother; 屺岵 (qǐ hù) — Longing for one's parents.