How to Write 叒 (ruò) — Meaning “ancient Chinese character (variant of '若')”

Imagine three hands (又) stacked like a totem pole — each hand representing an action done repeatedly. Since 叒 sounds like "row" in English, picture rowing a boat three times with your hands to link the sound and the triple 又 structure.

Start from the top: write the first 又 (stroke: 横撇 then 捺), then center the second 又 directly below it, and finally the third 又 at the bottom. A common mistake is making the middle or bottom 又 too wide or tall, unbalancing the character — keep each 又 slightly smaller than the one above to fit a square shape.

Visually, 叒 has three '又' stacked vertically, while 友 (yǒu, "friend") has a horizontal stroke on top of a single 又, and 双 (shuāng, "double") places two 又 side by side. So 叒 is unique for its triple vertical repetition, whereas 友 and 双 use different arrangements and have separate meanings.

叒 is a very rare ancient character, almost exclusively found in classical Chinese texts as a variant of 若. In modern Chinese, it is not used in daily writing or speech; you may encounter it only in historical or etymological references, such as discussing archaic character variants.

Common words containing 叒 include: 叒 (ruò) — ancient Chinese character (variant of '若').