How to Write 峋 (xún) — Meaning “Xun (jagged / rugged mountain)”

Picture a mountain (山) shaped like a calendar page showing 旬 (a ten-day period). Imagine the mountain's surface is so jagged and uneven that it looks like the numbers and lines of a calendar carved into stone. This visual link helps you recall that 峋 means 'jagged' or 'rugged.'

Write the left radical 山 (three strokes: vertical, then the small vertical stroke in the center, then the bottom horizontal). Then write 旬: start with a short left-falling stroke, then a horizontal hook, then a vertical stroke, followed by 日 (four strokes). A common mistake is making the 山 too wide—it should be narrow and balanced with the wider right side. Also, ensure the inner 日 of 旬 is centered and not too tall.

峋 uses 旬 on the right, meaning 'jagged' and always appears in compounds like 嶙峋. In contrast, 岈 uses 牙 (tooth) and often refers to a cleft or gap in a mountain (like a 'tooth-like' opening), while 岍 uses 开 (open) and was an old name for a mountain in Shaanxi province. Visually, 峋 has the distinct 旬 component, whereas 岈 and 岍 have simpler right sides. In modern Chinese, 峋 is the only one used commonly in descriptive words, while 岈 and 岍 are rare and mostly appear in place names or classical texts.

峋 is not used alone in modern Chinese; it always appears in the two-character word 嶙峋 (lín xún), which describes jagged, rugged rocks or a person's bony, lean appearance (e.g., 瘦骨嶙峋). It is also found in the idiom 怪石嶙峋 (guài shí lín xún), meaning 'rocks of grotesque and jagged shapes,' often used to describe dramatic mountain landscapes in poetry or travel writing. This word carries a classical, literary flavor and is not common in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 峋 include: 嶙峋 (lín xún) — jagged; bony; 峋嶙 (xún lín) — Jagged and rugged; 怪石嶙峋 (guài shí lín xún) — jagged and grotesque rocks.