How to Write 昃 (zè) — Meaning “The sun declining to the west; afternoon.”

Imagine the sun (日) is tired after noon, so it starts to lean sideways like a slanted line (仄). You can picture a clock at 2 PM where the shadow of the sun on the ground becomes long and slanting, reminding you of the character's shape.

The top part 日 should be narrow and centered, not too wide. The lower component 仄 has a horizontal stroke that must not cross the left side of 日, and the final stroke (捺) should extend slightly to the right for balance. A common mistake is making 日 too big, which makes the character look top-heavy.

昃 has the sun component over 仄 (slanting), while 旨 has 日 over 匕 (spoon) and means 'aim' or 'delicious'. 早 has 日 over 十 (ten) and means 'early morning'. Visually, 昃's bottom part has a slanted line and a downward stroke, unlike the flat or spoon-like shapes in the others. Their meanings are unrelated.

昃 is very rare in daily conversation and mostly appears in classical or literary Chinese. It is found in idioms like 日昃 (rì zè) meaning 'afternoon' or 'late in the day' and in historical texts describing time. Modern speakers would use 下午 for 'afternoon' instead.

Common words containing 昃 include: 日昃 (rì zè) — Afternoon / the sun declining to the west; 昃食 (zè shí) — To eat late (due to being busy).; 昃影 (zè yǐng) — Shadow cast by the afternoon sun..