How to Write 箝 (qián) — Meaning “pliers / to clamp / to gag”

Imagine a pair of bamboo chopsticks that are so tight they pinch your mouth shut. The top part 竹 looks like two bamboo stalks, and the bottom 拑 sounds like "clamp" — so think of bamboo pliers that clamp or gag something.

First, write the 竹 radical wide and balanced, with the left part slightly smaller. The bottom part 拑 has a left-side 扌 (hand) and right-side 甘 (sweet), but make sure 甘 has its horizontal strokes even. A common mistake is making the 竹 too narrow, which makes the character look top-heavy.

箝 (qián) means "to clamp" and has the bottom part 拑 (clamp). 筀 (guì) is an ancient bamboo instrument with the bottom 圭 (jade tablet). 筅 (xiǎn) means "bamboo brush" and has the bottom 先 (first). Visually, look for the different lower components: 拑 vs 圭 vs 先.

箝 appears mostly in formal or written language, often in words like 箝制 (to suppress) and 箝口 (to gag). It carries a strong sense of forced control or restraint, so it is sometimes used in political or media discussions about censorship. In everyday speech, most Chinese speakers would use simpler words like 夹 (to clamp) instead.

Common words containing 箝 include: 箝制 (qián zhì) — to suppress / to muzzle / to constrain; 箝口 (qián kǒu) — to keep one's mouth shut / to gag; 箝夹 (qián jiā) — to clamp / to pin down.