How to Write 史 (shǐ) — Meaning “history”

Imagine a history book with a mouth (口) on the cover, and a large X (乂) marking important events inside. Or picture a person with a square head (口) and crossed arms (乂) learning history.

Write the 口 as a narrow rectangle first (strokes: vertical, horizontal turn, horizontal base). Then add the two diagonal strokes of 乂, making sure they cross in the center. A common mistake is making the 口 too wide or the diagonals too short.

口 is simply a square box meaning “mouth” with no internal strokes. 卟 has a 口 on the left and a 卜 (divination) on the right, while 史 has 口 on top and 乂 below. Their shapes and meanings are very different: 史 is about history, not mouth or divination.

史 appears in common words like 历史 (lìshǐ, history), 史书 (shǐshū, historical records), and 史前 (shǐqián, prehistoric). It is central to China’s long tradition of official historical writing, known as the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史).

Common words containing 史 include: 历史 (lì shǐ) — history; 史书 (shǐ shū) — historical records; 史前 (shǐ qián) — prehistoric.