How to Write 跹 (xiān) — Meaning “To dance; to wander.”

Think of a foot (足) that is "moving" (迁) in a dance – the right part 迁 contains 千 (thousand) and 辶 (walk), so you can imagine a dancer taking a thousand steps while whirling. The sound xiān also reminds me of a swish or spin.

First write the left radical 足 (7 strokes) with the bottom horizontal slightly raised, then write the right part 迁 (6 strokes: 千 inside 辶). A common mistake is making the 千 too wide – keep it narrow so the whole character stays balanced. Also, the bottom of 足 and the 辶 should align roughly at the same level.

跹 (xiān) means to dance and contains 迁 (move) inside, while 趺 (fū) means the top of the foot or sitting cross-legged and has 夫 (husband) instead of 迁. 䠀 is an extremely rare character (meaning to tread) and is not used in modern Chinese, so you will almost never see it.

跹 is almost exclusively found in the literary two-character word 翩跹 (piān xiān), which describes light, graceful dancing or fluttering, like butterflies or flowing ribbons. It appears in poetry, classical texts, and elegant descriptions, but not in daily conversation.

Common words containing 跹 include: 翩跹 (piān xiān) — dance trippingly; flutter; 跹跹 (xiān xiān) — Dancing lightly; whirling.; 舞态翩跹 (wǔ tài piān xiān) — Dancing gracefully.