How to Write 鼋 (yuán) — Meaning “giant soft-shell turtle”

Imagine a very old and 'original' (元) giant turtle (黾) that has lived for thousands of years. You can also think of 'yuan' like the Chinese currency, but picture a huge turtle worth a lot of money.

Write the top part 元 first with 4 strokes (horizontal, horizontal, horizontal, vertical hook), then the bottom 黾 with 8 strokes. A common mistake is making the top too wide or the bottom too narrow; keep 元 centered above the squarish 黾. The last stroke of 黾 is a vertical hook that should not be too long.

The most famous is 鼋头渚 (yuán tóu zhǔ), a scenic island in Wuxi shaped like a turtle's head. Another is 大鼋 (dà yuán), meaning giant soft-shell turtle, used in zoology or mythology. 鼋鼍 (yuán tuó) refers to large turtles and alligators, often appearing in classical Chinese texts.

鼋 is very rare in modern Chinese and is mostly found in place names like 鼋头渚 or in classical literature about mythical giant turtles. It is not in the HSK vocabulary, so you will only encounter it when studying Chinese geography, history, or ancient stories about turtles supporting the world.

Common words containing 鼋 include: 鼋头渚 (yuán tóu zhǔ) — Yuantouzhu (Turtle Head Isle, a scenic spot in Wuxi); 大鼋 (dà yuán) — Giant softshell turtle; 鼋鼍 (yuán tuó) — large turtles and alligators.