How to Write 螗 (táng) — Meaning “Small cicada”

Imagine a small cicada (虫) sitting on a piece of candy (唐, which sounds like "táng" and also means sugar). The sweet connection helps you recall that 螗 is a type of cicada. Visualize the insect enjoying the sugar to link the sound and meaning.

Pay special attention to the right side 唐: it has a dot above the horizontal line on top, and the inner part has a horizontal stroke in the middle. The left radical 虫 should be slightly narrower than the right part, and the bottom of 虫 should align with the bottom of 唐. A common mistake is to confuse 唐 with 康 (kāng), which changes the character completely.

螗 (táng) means a small cicada, while 蜘 (zhī) means spider and 蜚 (fěi) means cockroach or to fly. Visually, 螗 has the right component 唐, 蜘 has 知, and 蜚 has 非. Although all share the insect radical 虫, their right sides and meanings are entirely different.

螗 is very rare in modern Chinese and mostly appears in classical poetry or literature to refer to small cicadas. It can be found in terms like 螗蜩 (táng tiáo, cicada) and 鸣螗 (míng táng, singing cicada). Culturally, cicadas symbolize summer and noble purity in Chinese tradition.

Common words containing 螗 include: 螗蜩 (táng tiáo) — Cicada; 鸣螗 (míng táng) — Cicada; 捉螗 (zhuō táng) — to catch small cicadas.