How to Write 珧 (yáo) — Meaning “Mother-of-pearl”

Imagine a king (王) who receives an omen (兆) of a shiny pearl. The right side 兆 looks like a person with two legs standing on a hook, which can remind you of a scallop shell's shape.

Write the left 王 first with three horizontal strokes, then the right 兆: start with a left-falling stroke, then a dot, then a vertical hook, and finally two dots. A common mistake is making the left side too wide or confusing the hook in 兆 with a simple vertical line.

珧 has 兆 on the right, while 玟 has 文 (wén), meaning 'literature' or 'pattern'. 玟 refers to streaks in jade, not mother-of-pearl. 玡 is very rare and has the right part 牙 (yá), meaning 'tooth', and is not used in common words.

珧 appears mostly in seafood terms like 珧柱 (dried scallops) and 江珧 (scallop). It is not in the HSK list and is uncommon in daily conversation. In Chinese cuisine, dried scallops (珧柱) are a premium ingredient used in soups and sauces.

Common words containing 珧 include: 珧柱 (yáo zhù) — Dried scallops; 江珧 (jiāng yáo) — scallop; 珧贝 (yáo bèi) — Scallop shell.