How to Write 黟 (yī) — Meaning “Black; dark”

Picture many (多) black (黑) objects, like a pile of black stones, making everything look extremely dark. The idea of "many black things" helps link the two parts to the meaning "deep black."

The left side 黑 has 12 strokes and must be written with the top 田 balanced above the四点底 (fire dots). The right side 多 is two 夕 stacked; make sure the top 夕 is slightly smaller than the bottom one, and keep them aligned vertically. A common mistake is making the two 夕 the same size, which looks unbalanced.

黟 and 黔 both mean black, but 黔 is mostly used in the place name Guizhou (黔) and in the idiom 黔驴技穷 (the Guizhou donkey's tricks are exhausted). 黟 is rarer and refers specifically to Yi County or a deep, jet-black color. 默 means "silent" or "quiet" and has no connection to black; its left side is 黑 (black) but only as a phonetic clue, not for meaning.

Today 黟 appears almost exclusively in the place name 黟县 (Yi County) in Anhui Province, famous for its ancient Huizhou-style villages like Hongcun. It can also be found in literary or poetic descriptions of deep blackness, such as 黟然 (deep black) or 黟黑 (jet black). Cultural note: Yi County is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so the character is tied to Chinese architectural heritage.

Common words containing 黟 include: 黟县 (yī xiàn) — Yi County; 黟然 (yī rán) — Deep black; dark; 黟黑 (yī hēi) — Jet black.