How to Write 玗 (yú) — Meaning “jade-like stone”

Imagine you see a piece of "jade" (王) that is not pure — it is just "like" jade. The right part 于 looks like a person holding a small stone up to the light and saying "Yu, this looks like jade!" This helps link the meaning "jade-like stone" to the sound yú.

The left radical 王 is written with three horizontal strokes and a vertical stroke; the middle horizontal should be shorter than the top and bottom ones. The right part 于 starts with a horizontal stroke, then a vertical hook, and ends with two small strokes — make sure the vertical hook curves slightly left. A common mistake is making the right side too wide; keep it narrow to balance the character.

玗 (yú) means "jade-like stone" and uses the sound component 于. 玎 (dīng) means the sound of jade colliding and uses the sound 丁 (dīng). 玑 (jī) means a pearl or a type of star and uses the sound 几 (jī). Visually, the right parts are different: 于 vs. 丁 vs. 几.

玗 is very rare in daily conversation and mostly appears in classical texts or names. You may find it in the word 玗琪 (yú qí) meaning "beautiful jade" or in personal names like 小玗 (Xiǎo Yú). It is not part of the HSK vocabulary, so learners mainly encounter it in literature or when reading about ancient jade.

Common words containing 玗 include: 玗琪 (yú qí) — beautiful jade; 玗石 (yú shí) — jade-like stone; 小玗 (xiǎo yú) — Xiao Yu (a name).