How to Write 鳝 (shàn) — Meaning “eel”

Think of a friendly eel that is "good" (善) at swimming like a fish (鱼). You can imagine a yellow eel doing a kind deed, such as helping other fish cross a river, to connect the meaning and sound.

The left radical 鱼 has 8 strokes; make sure the bottom horizontal stroke is slightly shorter than the one above. The right side 善 has 12 strokes and is quite complex; pay special attention to the balanced spacing of the three 羊-like parts and the 口 at the bottom. A common mistake is making the right side too narrow or forgetting the dot above the first 羊.

鳝 (shàn) means "eel" and has the fish radical plus 善 on the right. 鳌 (áo) means "huge turtle" and has the same fish radical but with 敖 (áo) on the right. 鳍 (qí) means "fin" and has the fish radical with 耆 (qí) on the right. Visually, the right-side components are completely different, so focus on those to tell them apart.

鳝 appears in food and culinary contexts, such as 鳝鱼面 (eel noodles) and 黄鳝 (yellow eel), a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine. Eels are often stir-fried, braised, or used in soups, especially in southern regions like Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In Chinese culture, eels are considered nutritious and are sometimes associated with summertime tonic dishes.

Common words containing 鳝 include: 鳝鱼 (shàn yú) — yellow eel; 黄鳝 (huáng shàn) — yellow eel; 鳝鱼面 (shàn yú miàn) — eel noodles.