How to Write 眙 (yí) — Meaning “to gaze; to stare”

Picture a person standing on a platform (台) with their eye (目) wide open, staring intensely into the distance. The pronunciation 'yí' sounds like 'yee' — imagine saying 'Yee, look at that!' while staring. This combines the visual of eye and platform with the sound.

Write the left radical 目 first, with 5 strokes (vertical left, top, inner, bottom, then vertical right). Then write the right side 台: first the top 厶 (2 strokes: slant, hook) then 口 (3 strokes). A common mistake is making the 目 too wide or the 台 too tall; keep both parts balanced and the 目 slightly narrower.

眙 (yí) has 目 + 台 and means 'to gaze,' often used in the place name 盱眙. 盱 (xū) has 目 + 于 and also means 'to gaze' but is extremely rare on its own. 盲 (máng) has 目 + 亡 and means 'blind,' with the 亡 (death) indicating loss of sight. Visually, 眙 has 台, 盱 has 于, and 盲 has 亡.

眙 is rarely used alone in modern speech; it mainly appears in the classical compound 盱眙 (Xuyi), a county in Jiangsu Province famous for its crayfish festival. In everyday language, people use words like 盯 (dīng) or 注视 (zhùshì) for 'stare' instead. So you will most often encounter 眙 when reading about the place 盱眙 or old literature.

Common words containing 眙 include: 盱眙 (xū yí) — Xuyi (a county in Jiangsu, China); 眙望 (yí wàng) — to gaze; to look into the distance; 眙眙 (yí yí) — gazing; staring.