How to Write 猩 (xīng) — Meaning “ape; gorilla”

Imagine a 'star' (星) wearing an animal costume — the dog radical 犭 on the left reminds you it's an animal. So picture a famous gorilla like King Kong holding a shiny star to remember 猩猩 (xīng xīng) means 'gorilla'.

Write the radical 犭 first — three strokes: left-falling hook, then two left-falling strokes. The right part 星 has a top sun (日) and bottom life (生); keep the strokes balanced. A common mistake is making the 犭 too wide or forgetting the final stroke in 生.

狳 (yú) means 'armadillo' and is rarely used, while 狴 (bì) refers to a mythical beast. The key difference is the right side: 猩 has 星 (star), indicating the pronunciation xīng; 狳 has 余 (yú), and 狴 has 毕 (bì). Their meanings are distinct animals.

猩 appears mainly in the word 猩猩 (xīng xīng) for apes like gorillas and chimpanzees, and 黑猩猩 (hēi xīng xīng) for chimpanzees. It also occurs in 猩红 (xīng hóng), meaning 'scarlet', a bright red color. The character is not common in daily conversation but appears in animal vocabulary.

Common words containing 猩 include: 猩猩 (xīng xīng) — gorilla; orangutan; chimpanzee; 黑猩猩 (hēi xīng xīng) — Chimpanzee; 猩红 (xīng hóng) — scarlet; crimson.