How to Write 祛 (qū) — Meaning “to dispel; to remove”

Imagine that the left side 礻 looks like a small altar, and the right side 去 looks like a person walking away. Picture a person going to an altar to pray for bad luck to leave. This visual of 'asking spirits to go away' helps you remember that 祛 means 'to dispel'.

The left radical 礻 is written first: dot, horizontal left-falling stroke, dot, right-falling stroke (4 strokes). Then the right side 去: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, left-falling, dot (5 strokes). Make sure the left side is narrow and the right side is wider; common mistakes include making the 礻 too wide or misplacing the second dot of 礻.

祛 has the phonetic component 去 on the right, while 社 (shè, meaning 'society') has 土 (earth) on the right, and 祀 (sì, meaning 'to worship') has 巳 (sì) on the right. Visually, 祛's right side is 去 (with a horizontal line on top), 社's right side is 土 (with a cross shape), and 祀's right side is 巳 (like a coiled snake). In meaning, 祛 is about removing, 社 is about community or god of land, and 祀 is about offering sacrifices.

Common words containing 祛 include: 祛痘 (qū dòu) — to remove acne; to clear pimples; 祛湿 (qū shī) — to remove dampness (in TCM); 祛斑 (qū bān) — to remove spots; to clear freckles.