How to Write 恤 (xù) — Meaning “to sympathize”

Imagine a heart (忄) that is bleeding (血) because it feels so much sympathy for someone in trouble. The heart and blood together make you think of "sympathy" because you are giving your emotional blood to help others. This visual of a bleeding heart can help you recall the meaning.

Keep the left radical 忄 narrow and write its three strokes carefully: two dots then a vertical line. The right side 血 has six strokes: first a short left-slanting stroke, then a vertical, a horizontal fold, two vertical strokes inside, and a long horizontal bottom line. A common mistake is making the bottom horizontal too short or forgetting the second vertical stroke inside 血.

All three have the heart radical 忄, but their right parts differ. 恤 has 血 (blood) and means sympathy, while 忡 has 中 (middle) and means worry or anxiety, and 忤 has 午 (noon) and means disobedience or opposition. Visually, 恤's right side has a flat top and multiple vertical lines, whereas 忡 has a square 中 and 忤 has a 午 with a vertical line through the middle.

恤 appears in formal or written words like 体恤 (to show consideration) and 抚恤 (to provide relief to bereaved families). It is not common in daily conversation but is used in news, government announcements, and compassionate contexts. For example, 体恤员工 means to empathize with and care for employees, and 抚恤金 refers to compensation paid to families of deceased workers.

Common words containing 恤 include: 体恤 (tǐ xù) — to empathize with; to show consideration for; 抚恤 (fǔ xù) — to provide relief or compensation to bereaved families; 怜恤 (lián xù) — to pity and help; to show compassion.