How to Write 県 (xiàn) — Meaning “county (variant of 县)”

Imagine an eye (目) looking down at a small county town (小), with a horizontal line separating the eye from the town. This visual of "eye above small town" helps you associate the character with a county being watched over.

Write the top 目 first (5 strokes), then a short horizontal stroke, then write 小 (3 strokes) below. A common mistake is to forget the middle horizontal stroke or make the bottom 小 too large, so keep the horizontal line clear and the bottom part compact.

盯 (dīng, to stare) and 盱 (xū, to gaze) both have 目 on the left side, while 県 has 目 on top. More importantly, 県 means "county," and 盯/盱 are about eye actions, so they are completely different in meaning and usage.

In mainland China, the standard character for county is 县 (xiàn), but 県 appears as a variant in historical texts, calligraphy, and Japanese (where it means prefecture). For modern Chinese, you will almost always see 县 instead, so 県 is mainly used for stylistic or cross-cultural purposes.

Common words containing 県 include: 県城 (xiàn chéng) — county seat; county town; 県长 (xiàn zhǎng) — county head; magistrate; 県立 (xiàn lì) — county-established; county-run.