How to Write 盱 (xū) — Meaning “gaze / stare (literary)”

Imagine a person with a large eye (目) standing next to a signpost shaped like 于, staring into the distance. The signpost looks like a path marker, and the person is using their eye to gaze far away, which matches the meaning of "gaze" or "stare."

盱 has 8 strokes: first write the left radical 目 (5 strokes: vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal), then the right part 于 (3 strokes: horizontal, horizontal, vertical hook). Be careful to keep the 目 narrow and the 于 slightly wider; the top of 于 should align with the middle of 目, and the vertical hook should not extend too low.

盱 (xū) means "gaze" or "stare" but is used only in literary or place-name contexts. 盯 (dīng) means "to stare fixedly" and is common in everyday speech. 盲 (máng) means "blind" and has a different structure (亡 on top of 目). Visually, 盱 has 于 on the right, 盯 has 丁, and 盲 has 亡.

盱 is rarely used alone in modern Chinese; its main use is in the place name 盱眙 (Xūyí), a county in Jiangsu province. It also appears in literary terms like 盱衡 (to observe and assess) and 盱望 (to gaze into the distance). Culturally, 盱眙 is famous for its ancient tombs and delicious crayfish.

Common words containing 盱 include: 盱眙 (xū yí) — Xuyi (a county in Jiangsu, China); 盱衡 (xū héng) — observe and assess; 盱望 (xū wàng) — gaze into the distance.