How to Write 厃 (wěi) — Meaning “high or dangerous”

Picture a person standing on a cliff (厂) with their arms raised in fear because the height is dangerous. This mental image of a terrified figure on a high edge helps you remember both meanings of "high" and "dangerous."

Write the cliff radical first: a horizontal stroke followed by a downward left stroke. Then add two strokes: a diagonal downward left and a small dot to complete the person figure. A common mistake is making the dot too large or placing it too far right — keep it small and centered below the left-leaning strokes.

厂 is just the cliff radical with no person, so it looks empty. 仄 has a person inside the cliff (厂 + 人), meaning "narrow" or "slanting." In contrast, 厃 has the person above the cliff, indicating a high, dangerous position rather than a confined space.

厃 is extremely rare in modern Chinese and is not included in the HSK vocabulary. It appears mostly in classical texts or poetic descriptions of high, dangerous places, such as in the word 厃望 (to look out from a height), but you will almost never see it in everyday writing or conversation.

Common words containing 厃 include: 厃望 (wěi wàng) — to look out from a height; 厃坐 (wěi zuò) — to sit upright on high; 厃立 (wěi lì) — to stand on a high place.