How to Write 寅 (yín) — Meaning “the third Earthly Branch; 3-5 a.m.”

Imagine a tiger (寅虎) sleeping under a roof (宀) during the early morning hours of 寅时 (3-5 a.m.). The top part looks like a roof, and the curved bottom strokes resemble a tiger’s tail curled up. This mental picture helps connect the character to its meaning of dawn and the Tiger zodiac.

Pay attention to the top radical 宀: it should be wide enough to cover the lower part. The lower portion has a complex stroke order: first write the left vertical stroke, then the middle horizontal and vertical strokes, and finally the two dots or short strokes at the bottom. A common mistake is making the 宀 too narrow or misplacing the bottom strokes.

寅 has the radical 宀 but is not a top-down semantic compound like 客 (guest, with 各 below) or 宣 (declare, with 亘 below). The lower part of 寅 is unique and unrelated to those. Visually, 寅 has a more cramped, complex bottom section with multiple strokes, while 客 and 宣 have simpler lower components.

寅 is mainly used in traditional timekeeping and zodiac contexts, such as 寅时 meaning 3-5 a.m. and 寅年 meaning Year of the Tiger. It appears in the zodiac name 寅虎 (Tiger) and in classical or calendar expressions. In daily life, it is not common vocabulary but is important for understanding Chinese astrology and ancient time divisions.

Common words containing 寅 include: 寅时 (yín shí) — 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.; 寅年 (yín nián) — Year of the Tiger; 寅虎 (yín hǔ) — Tiger (zodiac sign).