How to Write 潸 (shān) — Meaning “tearfully”

Imagine the right side looks like a person with two eyes (the top part) and tears dripping down (the bottom strokes). Combined with the water radical on the left, it creates a vivid picture of someone crying — 'water from the eyes.' This helps you link the shape to the meaning 'tearfully.'

Write the water radical (氵) first with three strokes: dot, dot, lift. Then carefully write the right side — it has many horizontal and vertical strokes that must be balanced. A common mistake is making the right part too wide or forgetting the final left-falling and right-falling strokes at the bottom.

潸 (shān) means 'tearfully' and uses the water radical with a right part 散. 溏 (táng) means 'muddy water' and has the right side 唐. 源 (yuán) means 'source' and uses 原 on the right. Their meanings are completely different, and the right side characters are visually distinct — 散, 唐, and 原.

潸 appears mostly in literary or formal writing, such as poetry or essays, to describe a sad scene with tears. Common phrases are 潸然泪下 (tears streaming down) and 泪潸潸 (tears falling heavily). It is not used in everyday conversation, so you will encounter it in books or artistic language.

Common words containing 潸 include: 潸然 (shān rán) — tearfully or in tears; 泪潸潸 (lèi shān shān) — Tears falling copiously; 潸潸 (shān shān) — streaming with tears.