How to Write 呑 (tūn) — Meaning “to swallow”

Imagine a giant mouth (口) opening wide to swallow the entire sky (天). This visual of a mouth devouring heaven helps you remember that 呑 means "to swallow."

Write the top component 口 first, making it slightly narrower than the bottom 天. Ensure the two horizontal strokes of 天 are parallel and that the left-falling and right-falling strokes extend evenly. A common mistake is making the 口 too wide, which unbalances the character.

呑 has 口 above 天 (sky), while 卟 has 口 above 卜 (a divination symbol) and 古 has 十 (ten) above 口. Visually, the bottom parts differ in stroke count and shape. In meaning, 呑 means "to swallow," 卟 is used for sounds or transliteration, and 古 means "ancient."

呑 is a variant of the more common character 吞 (tūn) and appears in words like 呑没 (to swallow up or embezzle), 呑吐 (to hesitate while speaking), and 呑并 (to annex). It is not in the HSK vocabulary list, so learners may encounter it in literary, historical, or calligraphic texts where the variant form is preserved.

Common words containing 呑 include: 呑没 (tūn méi) — to swallow / to engulf / to embezzle; 呑吐 (tūn tǔ) — to swallow and spit; to speak hesitatingly; 呑并 (tūn bìng) — to annex / to merge.