How to Write 拥 (yōng) — Meaning “to embrace; to crowd”

Imagine your hands (扌) are busy using (用) your arms to give a big hug or push through a crowded street. The phrase 'hand-use' can remind you that 拥 involves both embracing and being crowded. Picture yourself using your hands to hug someone tightly in a crowded room.

Write the left radical 扌 first with a short horizontal, then a vertical hook, and finally a lift stroke. Then write 用 on the right with a vertical stroke on the left, followed by a horizontal fold hook, a horizontal, and a vertical through the center. Make sure the right side 用 is slightly wider than the radical to maintain balance.

㧜 is extremely rare and not used in modern Chinese, so you will almost never see it. 托 (tuō) means 'to support with the hand' or 'to entrust', and it uses the same hand radical but with a different right component, so its meaning is more about holding up rather than embracing or crowding. In contrast, 拥 specifically implies wrapping arms around or pressing together.

拥 appears in common words like 拥抱 (to hug) for casual and formal embraces, 拥挤 (crowded) for places like trains or markets, and 拥有 (to possess) for owning things like property. In Chinese culture, public hugging is less common than in the West, but 拥抱 is still used for close friends and family, especially after long separations.

Common words containing 拥 include: 拥抱 (yōng bào) — to hug; to embrace; 拥挤 (yōng jǐ) — crowded; congested; 拥有 (yōng yǒu) — to possess; to own.