How to Write 夕 (xī) — Meaning “evening / sunset”

Imagine the character 夕 looks like a crescent moon hanging in the evening sky. You can remember it as 'the first stroke is the curved top of the moon, and the second and third strokes form the lower curve.'

Write the first stroke (short left-falling) from upper right to lower left, then the second stroke (horizontal hook) sweeps right and down, and finally add a short dot inside the hook. A common mistake is making the hook too wide or forgetting the inner dot.

夕 differs from 夃 (an archaic, rarely used character) and 外 (wài, meaning 'outside'), which adds a vertical stroke (卜) on the left. Visually, 外 has an extra stroke on its left side, while 夕 is just the crescent shape, and their meanings are unrelated to evening.

夕 appears in words for evening and festivals, such as 夕阳 (setting sun) and 除夕 (Chinese New Year's Eve). It is also in 七夕, the Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day), which takes place on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, celebrating a romantic legend.

Common words containing 夕 include: 夕阳 (xī yáng) — sunset / setting sun; 除夕 (chú xī) — Chinese New Year's Eve.; 七夕 (qī xī) — Qixi Festival; Double Seventh Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day).