How to Write 谥 (shì) — Meaning “posthumous title”

Imagine that after a famous person dies, people gather to 'speak' (讠) about their life and decide to 'add' (益) an honorable title to their name. The left side 讠 looks like a speech bubble, and the right side 益 can be remembered as 'extra' — so 谥 is the 'extra speech' given to the deceased.

The left radical 讠 must be written with two strokes: first a dot, then a rising curve — do not make it a straight line. On the right side, 益 has eight strokes; be careful to write the top part (丶丿一) clearly before the皿 (container) below, and do not confuse the lower part with the character 血 (blood).

All three share the speech radical 讠, but their right sides differ. 请 has 青 (qīng, meaning 'blue/green') and means 'to request'; 诸 has 者 (zhě, meaning 'person') and means 'various' or 'all'. 谥 has 益 and specifically refers to a posthumous title, a formal name given after death.

谥 appears almost exclusively in historical or literary contexts, such as discussing ancient emperors or nobles who received posthumous titles like 谥号. For example, the famous general Yue Fei was 追谥 (posthumously granted) the title 'Wumu'. In daily conversation, this character is very rare; you will mainly encounter it in history books or classical texts.

Common words containing 谥 include: 谥号 (shì hào) — posthumous title; 追谥 (zhuī shì) — to confer a posthumous title (simplified); 谥法 (shì fǎ) — posthumous system.