How to Write 瘀 (yū) — Meaning “blood stasis; bruise”

Imagine a sick person (疒) lying still (於 sounds like 'you' but means 'at' or 'in') after bumping into something. The blood stays 'in' one spot, creating a painful, purple bruise — that is 瘀 yū.

The outer radical 疒 has a wide horizontal stroke on top and a long left-slanting stroke, while the inner 於 must be compact and centered. A common mistake is making the 於 too large, causing it to push outside the sick-radical frame; keep the left side of 於 (方) narrow and the right side (仒, actually 夂 with dot) balanced.

瘀 (yū) specifically means blood stasis or a bruise, while 疵 (cī) means a blemish, flaw, or minor illness like a pimple, and 痊 (quán) means to recover or be cured from illness. Visually, 瘀 has 於 inside, 疵 has 此 (this), and 痊 has 全 (complete); their meanings are unrelated even though all share the illness radical 疒.

瘀 is most common in medical contexts, especially in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where 瘀血 (yū xuè) refers to stagnant blood that can cause pain or swelling. It appears on bruise descriptions (瘀斑 yū bān) and in phrases like 活血化瘀 (huó xuè huà yū) meaning 'activate blood and resolve stasis,' a key TCM treatment concept.

Common words containing 瘀 include: 瘀血 (yū xuè) — blood stasis; extravasated blood; 瘀斑 (yū bān) — ecchymosis; bruise mark; 瘀滞 (yū zhì) — stasis; congestion of blood.