How to Write 鬈 (quán) — Meaning “curly hair”

Imagine a person with long flowing hair (髟) that has been rolled up into tight curls, like a scroll (卷). The right part 卷 looks like someone rolling up a piece of paper, which can remind you of hair curling around itself.

The left part 髟 has many horizontal strokes—make sure you keep them even and not too long. The right part 卷 begins with two diagonal strokes that must cross neatly, and the final part (巳) should be closed properly; a common mistake is writing the right side too wide, making the character unbalanced.

鬈 means 'curly hair' and uses the component 卷 for 'curl'. 髭 (zī) means 'mustache' and uses 此 (this) as a phonetic, while 髹 (xiū) means 'to lacquer' and uses 休 (rest). Visually, notice that 鬈 has a rolled shape on the right, 髭 has 此, and 髹 has 休.

鬈 appears mostly in literary or formal descriptions of curly or wavy hair, such as in fashion or historical texts. In everyday speech, people usually say 卷发 (juǎn fà) instead of 鬈发, so 鬈 is more common in written or classical Chinese.

Common words containing 鬈 include: 鬈发 (quán fà) — curly hair; 鬈曲 (quán qū) — curly; wavy; 鬈毛 (quán máo) — curly hair.