How to Write 覃 (tán) — Meaning “Qin (a surname) / Deep”

Imagine Mr. Qin (覃) waking up early (早) and covering his head with a blanket (覀) to think deeply (覃思). The image of someone "deep in thought under a cover" links the parts to the meaning.

The top radical 覀 is written with four strokes: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical. A common mistake is to add an extra horizontal line at the bottom, making it look like 西. The bottom part 早 must be centered under 覀, and the overall character is tall and narrow.

The most common word is 覃先生 (tán xiān shēng) meaning "Mr. Qin." 姓覃 (xìng tán) means "the surname is Qin." 覃思 (tán sī) is a literary term meaning "to think deeply" and is used in formal writing or classical texts.

Today, 覃 is almost exclusively used as a surname, pronounced tán. It is not a common character in daily conversation, but you may encounter it in names or historical texts. A cultural note: the surname 覃 is also sometimes pronounced qín in some regional dialects, but the standard Mandarin pronunciation is tán.

Common words containing 覃 include: 覃先生 (tán xiān shēng) — Mr. Qin; 姓覃 (xìng tán) — Surname Qin; 覃思 (tán sī) — To think deeply / Deep thought.