How to Write 昙 (tán) — Meaning “Cloudy / Epiphyllum”

Picture a "sun" (日) being covered by a "cloud" (云) – that is exactly 昙. Imagine the sun peeking out from behind a fluffy cloud, and the character shows the cloud on top of the sun. This visual mnemonic helps link the components to the meaning of "cloudy."

Write the top radical 日 first as a narrow, tall shape (not a wide square). Then write the lower component 云, keeping its horizontal strokes aligned. A common mistake is making the 日 too wide or placing the 云 too far left – the two parts should be centered vertically, with the cloud directly under the sun.

昙 has 日 on top and 云 (cloud) below, while 旨 has 日 on top of 匕 (spoon) and 早 has 日 over 十 (ten). Visually, 昙's bottom part looks like a cloud (云) with its distinctive horizontal strokes, unlike 旨's curved 匕 or 早's cross shape. In meaning, 昙 means cloudy, 旨 means purpose or tasty, and 早 means early.

昙 is most commonly used in the word 昙花 (epiphyllum) and the idiom 昙花一现, which means "a flash in the pan" or something short-lived. This idiom comes from the epiphyllum flower that blooms only for one night. You will rarely see 昙 alone; it almost always appears in these fixed expressions, especially in literary or metaphorical contexts.

Common words containing 昙 include: 昙花 (tán huā) — Epiphyllum / Queen of the Night; 昙花一现 (tán huā yī xiàn) — A flash in the pan / Short-lived; 优昙 (yōu tán) — Udumbara flower..