How to Write 狱 (yù) — Meaning “prison / jail”

Imagine a dog (犭) barking fiercely at the entrance of a valley (谷) that has been turned into a prison. The dog guards the valley jail, so the character 狱 means 'prison'. This mental picture links the left and right parts to the meaning of confinement.

Write the left radical 犭 first: a left-falling stroke (撇), then a hook stroke (弯钩), and finally another left-falling stroke. For the right side 谷, start with the top two strokes (撇, 捺), then write the middle 'person' radical (人), and finish with the bottom 'mouth' (口). A common mistake is making the left radical too wide; keep it narrow and the right side balanced.

状 (zhuàng) means 'shape' or 'form' and has the right side 丬 (a piece of wood), while 犹 (yóu) means 'still' or 'just like' and has the right side 尤 (especially). In contrast, 狱 has the right side 谷 (valley) and specifically means 'prison'. Visually, 狱 has a more complex right side with multiple strokes, unlike the simpler shapes of 状 and 犹.

狱 is most commonly seen in the word 监狱 (jiānyù, prison) and 入狱 (rùyù, to be imprisoned). It also appears in the term 地狱 (dìyù, Hell), which refers to a place of punishment in Buddhist and folk religion. Although not in HSK, 狱 is a serious character used in legal and religious contexts to describe confinement or suffering.

Common words containing 狱 include: 监狱 (jiān yù) — prison / jail; 入狱 (rù yù) — to go to prison; 地狱 (dì yù) — Hell.