How to Write 仄 (zè) — Meaning “Oblique tone; narrow”

Imagine a person (人) trying to squeeze through a narrow gap under a cliff (厂) — they have to lean sideways, which represents the 'oblique' tone. The two inner strokes (a left-falling and a dot) look like a bent person and a small mark, reminding you of a narrow or slanted situation.

The stroke order is: horizontal, left-falling (forming 厂), then left-falling (inside), then a dot (last). A common mistake is writing the inner part as a full 人 (with a right-falling stroke) instead of using a dot — remember the dot is shorter and more compact. Also keep the overall shape narrow, not wide, to reflect the meaning of narrowness.

Compare 仄 (zè) with 厂 (hǎn, cliff radical) — 厂 has only two strokes and no inner strokes, while 仄 adds a left-falling and a dot inside. 厃 is a rare character meaning 'danger' or 'steep' and looks like 厂 with a full 人 (two strokes: left-falling and right-falling) inside; 仄 uses a dot instead of the right-falling stroke, making it distinct.

仄 is mainly encountered in classical Chinese poetry theory, especially in the term 平仄 (píng zè), which refers to the tonal patterns of even and oblique tones. It also appears in literary words like 仄径 (narrow path), but it is rarely used in daily conversation. Understanding 仄 is important for appreciating the rhythm and rules of traditional Chinese poetry, such as Tang poems.

Common words containing 仄 include: 平仄 (píng zè) — tonal patterns in classical poetry; 仄声 (zè shēng) — Oblique tone in Chinese phonology; 仄径 (zè jìng) — Narrow path.