How to Write 堰 (yàn) — Meaning “weir / dam”

Imagine a wall of earth (土) built to block water, and the right side 匽 looks like a woman (女) standing under the sun (日) on top of the dam. This mental picture helps you recall that 堰 is a dam that blocks water.

The left radical 土 should be narrow and vertical, while the right part 匽 is wider and balanced. A common mistake is making the 日 inside 匽 too large; keep it compact so the whole character stays proportional, and write strokes in the order: left radical first, then the outer box of 匽, then 日, then 女.

堰 (yàn) specifically means an artificial dam or weir for water control, as in 都江堰. In contrast, 埂 (gěng) refers to a narrow ridge or embankment between fields, while 垸 (yuàn) is a low wall or boundary for a field or yard. Visually, 堰 has the 匽 component, 埂 has 更, and 垸 has 完.

堰 appears mainly in technical or geographical terms for dams and weirs, such as 石堰 (stone weir) and 堤堰 (dike). The most famous example is 都江堰, a 2,200-year-old irrigation system in Sichuan that is still in use today, often studied as a masterpiece of ancient Chinese engineering.

Common words containing 堰 include: 都江堰 (dū jiāng yàn) — Dujiangyan (an ancient irrigation system); 石堰 (shí yàn) — stone weir; 堤堰 (dī yàn) — weir / dike / embankment.