How to Write 狲 (sūn) — Meaning “monkey”

Think of a monkey (犭) playing with its "grandson" (孙). The word "grandson" sounds like sūn, matching the pinyin, so you can picture a naughty monkey and its grandchild acting silly together.

Start with the left radical 犭: left-falling stroke, then a curved hook, then another left-falling. Then write the right part 孙: first 子 (cross hook, vertical hook, horizontal), then 小 (vertical hook, left dot, right dot). A common mistake is making the left radical too wide — keep it narrow and balanced with the right side.

狲 and 犹 share the left radical 犭, but 犹 has 尤 on the right (meaning "still" or "like") while 狲 has 孙 (meaning "monkey"). 状 (zhuàng) has a different left radical 丬 and means "shape" or "form" — it is visually distinct and unrelated to animals.

狲 is rarely used alone; it appears in words like 猢狲 (hú sūn, "monkey") and the idiom 猢狲散 (hú sūn sàn, meaning followers scatter when their leader falls). It is not in HSK but appears in classical stories and folklore about monkeys, especially in the novel "Journey to the West."

Common words containing 狲 include: 猢狲 (hú sūn) — monkey; 狲猴 (sūn hóu) — monkey; 猢狲散 (hú sūn sàn) — to scatter like monkeys (when the leader falls).