How to Write 砣 (tuó) — Meaning “Steelyard weight”

Imagine a stone (石) sitting on a scale, and notice that the right side 它 looks like a weight hanging from a hook. The character 砣 can be remembered as 'stone + it,' where 'it' refers to the heavy object used to balance goods. Visualize a stone weight on a traditional steelyard scale.

Write the left radical 石 first: horizontal, left-falling, horizontal, vertical, then mouth (like a square). Then write the right part 它: dot, horizontal hook, vertical hook (or writing order: dot, horizontal, left-falling, vertical hook). Common mistakes include making the right side too large or misaligning the vertical hook; keep the left and right halves balanced, with the right side slightly narrower.

砣 (tuó) means 'steelyard weight,' while 矸 (gān) means 'rock' or 'ore' and 矻 (kù) is used in 矻矻 (kùkù, meaning 'diligent' or 'hardworking'). Visually, 砣 has 它 on the right, 矸 has 干 (gān, 'dry') on the right, and 矻 has 乞 (qǐ, 'beg') on the right. They share the 石 radical but are pronounced and used very differently.

砣 is rarely used alone in modern Chinese; it appears mainly in the word 秤砣 (chèng tuó), referring to the sliding weight on a steelyard scale. Traditionally, a 秤砣 was a heavy stone or metal object used in markets to weigh goods, and the term is still known even though digital scales are common. It also appears in some dialectal or historical contexts, such as 砣子 meaning the weight itself.

Common words containing 砣 include: 秤砣 (chèng tuó) — steelyard weight; 砣子 (tuó zi) — Steelyard weight; 秤砣重 (chèng tuó zhòng) — The steelyard weight is heavy..