How to Write 畋 (tián) — Meaning “To hunt / To farm”

Picture a farmer standing in a square field (田) while holding a stick (攵) to hunt wild animals or to tap the ground while planting seeds. The image of a person acting in a field links both meanings of hunting and farming.

Start with the left radical 田: write the vertical, then top horizontal, then inner cross, then bottom horizontal (3 strokes total). Then on the right write 攵 in 4 strokes: first a short horizontal, then a longer horizontal, then a sweeping curve, and finally a tap stroke. A common mistake is making the left 田 too wide or misaligning the right 攵 so it looks disconnected.

男 (nán, meaning 'male') uses 田 above 力 (strength) and refers to a man working in the field, not hunting. 甸 (diàn, meaning 'suburb' or 'to govern') has 田 inside a box-like 勹, indicating an outer area or a place of administration. Unlike 畋, these characters do not carry the meaning of hunting.

畋 is very rare in everyday modern Chinese and is mostly found in classical literature or historical texts about hunting. It appears in the common word 畋猎 (tián liè) meaning 'to hunt', but even that is more literary than spoken. Culturally, 畋 reflects ancient Chinese agrarian and hunting lifestyles where the same field could be used for farming or game.

Common words containing 畋 include: 畋猎 (tián liè) — To hunt; 畋食 (tián shí) — To hunt for food / To live off the land; 畋渔 (tián yú) — Hunting and fishing.