How to Write 髫 (tiáo) — Meaning “child's hanging hair; childhood”

Picture a child with long, hanging hair (髟) calling out (召) to their friends. The image of a young child with strands of hair swinging as they shout helps link the shape to the meaning of childhood.

Start with the top radical 髟: write the left-falling stroke, then the horizontal and vertical strokes, followed by three diagonal strokes (彡). Then add 召: first the top 'claw' (爫) and then the bottom 'mouth' (口). A common mistake is making the 彡 strokes too flat or missing the third diagonal, so keep them slanted and evenly spaced.

髡 (kūn) has a bottom component meaning 'bald' (兀 or 几) and refers to shaving the head, often as a punishment. 髦 (máo) has a bottom component meaning 'hair' (毛) and describes long hair or something fashionable. 髫 specifically relates to the hanging hair of children, with bottom 召.

髫 is rarely used alone but appears in literary phrases like 垂髫 (chuí tiáo), meaning young children, from the ancient practice of letting children's hair hang down. It is also found in 髫年 (tiáo nián) and 髫龄 (tiáo líng) for childhood years. You'll encounter it mostly in classical texts or formal writing about youth.

Common words containing 髫 include: 垂髫 (chuí tiáo) — young children (literally 'hanging hair'); 髫年 (tiáo nián) — childhood years; 髫龄 (tiáo líng) — childhood age.