How to Write 黥 (qíng) — Meaning “To tattoo (as a punishment)”

Imagine a prisoner in the capital (京) having black ink (黑) permanently tattooed on their face as punishment. Picture the black radical as the ink and 京 as the place where this harsh penalty was ordered.

Pay attention to the radical 黑: it has four small dots inside the top left area (like flames), not just a box. The bottom part 京 must be written with the top dot and horizontal stroke, then a narrow mouth, and finally the small 小-like component — keep the balance between top and bottom halves.

黥 (qíng) means tattoo punishment, while 黟 (yī) is a place name (e.g., 黟县 in Anhui) and has a different right side (多). 黠 (xiá) means clever or sly, with the right side 吉 — visually, 黥 has 京 on bottom, 黟 has 多, and 黠 has 吉, so compare the lower-right parts.

黥 is rarely used in daily conversation today because tattooing as punishment was abolished in ancient China. You might encounter it in historical texts, legal documents, or historical fiction describing the cruel "face tattoo" penalty (黥刑) used during the Qin and Han dynasties.

Common words containing 黥 include: 黥面 (qíng miàn) — To tattoo the face (as a punishment); 黥刑 (qíng xíng) — Tattooing as a punishment; 黥首 (qíng shǒu) — To tattoo the forehead (as a punishment).