How to Write 钺 (yuè) — Meaning “battle-axe (ancient weapon)”

Imagine a metal (钅) axe head with a curved blade (the top part of 戉) and a long handle (the vertical stroke). You can picture a warrior holding this weapon, and the right half looks like a person swinging an axe.

First write the radical 钅 (5 strokes: left-falling, then three horizontals, and a vertical lift). Then write 戉: start with a horizontal, a vertical, a horizontal hook, a left-falling, and finally a dot at the bottom. A common mistake is forgetting that last dot or making the left radical too small.

钺 (yuè) has the right component 戉, which is complex with a hook and a dot. 钍 (tǔ) has the simple right part 土 (earth) and means the element thorium. 钎 (qiān) has 千 (thousand) on the right and means a steel drill. Visually, 钺 is the only one that looks like a weapon.

钺 is very rare in daily modern Chinese; you mainly see it in historical texts or archaeology reports. It appears in words like 斧钺 (fǔ yuè, battle-axe) which was a type of ancient weapon and punishment tool. Culturally, the yue was also a ceremonial symbol of military authority in ancient China.

Common words containing 钺 include: 斧钺 (fǔ yuè) — Battle-axe; 钺刀 (yuè dāo) — battle-axe / cleaver-like weapon; 青铜钺 (qīng tóng yuè) — Bronze Yue (a type of battle-axe).