How to Write 羕 (yàng) — Meaning “rippling”

Imagine a sheep (羊) standing by a long river (永) and seeing its reflection ripple in the water. The sheep is amazed by the rippling (羕) image, so you can remember 羕 as "sheep sees endless ripples."

Write the top 羊 first, making sure the three horizontal strokes are even and the vertical stroke goes straight down. Then add 永 below, with its left-falling stroke starting slightly left of center. A common mistake is making the top 羊 too wide, which makes the whole character unbalanced.

羕 (yàng) means rippling, while 羍 (dá) is an ancient word for a young sheep and 美 (měi) means beautiful. Visually, 羕 combines 羊 with 永 (eternal), 羍 has 羊 with 大 (big) below, and 美 has 羊 with 大 above, so their bottom parts are completely different.

羕 is very rare in modern Chinese, mostly appearing in classical poetry to describe the rippling of water or vast flowing landscapes. The word 羕羕 appears in ancient texts to evoke a peaceful, endless watery scene, so you might encounter it in literary or calligraphy contexts.

Common words containing 羕 include: 羕羕 (yàng yàng) — rippling and vast; 羕游 (yàng yóu) — to swim or float freely; 羕动 (yàng dòng) — to ripple.