How to Write 昝 (zǎn) — Meaning “Zan (a Chinese surname)”

Imagine the sun (日) setting over a person walking (夂) home — that person is Mr. Zan, who always walks home at dusk. The shape looks like a sun with a bent leg below, so think "Sun sets, Zan steps."

Write 日 first (three strokes: vertical, horizontal fold, inner horizontal, bottom horizontal), then 夂 below (three strokes: horizontal hook, left-falling, right-falling). The 日 should be slightly narrower than the lower part, and the 夂 should extend a bit wider to balance the character. A common mistake is making the bottom 夂 too small or writing the left-falling stroke too vertical.

昝 is a surname (reading zǎn), while 旰 (gàn) means "late in the day" or "sunset" and has 日 on the left with 干 on the right. 旱 (hàn) means "drought" and has 日 on top with 干 below. Visually, 昝 has 夂 under 日, 旰 has 干 beside 日, and 旱 has 干 under 日 — so focus on the lower or right component.

昝 is exclusively used as a Chinese surname, though it is quite rare. You might see it in names like 昝先生 (Mr. Zan) or 昝老师 (Teacher Zan). There is no special cultural meaning beyond being a family name; it is not related to common words or daily vocabulary.

Common words containing 昝 include: 昝先生 (zǎn xiān shēng) — Mr. Zan; 姓昝 (xìng zǎn) — Surname Zan; 昝老师 (zǎn lǎo shī) — Teacher Zan.