How to Write 劄 (zhā) — Meaning “brief note or memorandum”

Imagine taking a bamboo slip (竹) and cutting it with a knife (刂) to create a short note. You can also think of 劄 as the less common older brother of 札, where bamboo replaces wood. Remember: "a bamboo note cut with a knife."

Pay attention to the balance: the bamboo radical on top should be wide, while the knife radical below is narrow and centered. A common mistake is confusing the top with 木 (wood) instead of 竹 (bamboo), which changes the character to 札. Also, the stroke order follows standard rules: write the bamboo first, then the bottom knife component.

剩 (shèng) means "surplus" and has a top part 乘 (ride) with 刂 below, while 割 (gē) means "to cut" and has 害 (harm) on the left with 刂 on the right. In contrast, 劄 always relates to written notes. Visually, only 劄 uses the bamboo radical on top.

劄 is rarely used in everyday modern Chinese; the simpler character 札 (zhā) has largely replaced it for writing "note" or "letter." However, you may still see 劄 in formal or historical terms like 奏劄 (memorial to the throne) in ancient Chinese documents. Learning it helps in reading classical texts or understanding word variants.

Common words containing 劄 include: 劄记 (zhā jì) — reading notes; 奏劄 (zòu zhā) — memorial to the throne; 劄子 (zhā zi) — memorandum or brief note.