How to Write 瘵 (zhài) — Meaning “wasting disease or tuberculosis”

Imagine a person lying sick in bed (疒) while a ritual sacrifice (祭) is made for their recovery, but the disease is so consuming that it seems to 'eat' them alive. This links the character to tuberculosis or chronic wasting illness.

First write the radical 疒 as three strokes: dot, horizontal left-falling, then lift. Then carefully write 祭, starting with 夕 (two strokes), then 又 (two strokes), and finish with 示 (five strokes). A common mistake is to write the bottom part of 祭 as 木 or 衣 — it must be 示 (like in 礼).

瘵 (zhài) means tuberculosis or chronic wasting disease. 瘊 (hóu) means a wart or growth on the skin, and 瘌 (là) means scabies or a severe itchy rash. Visually, 瘵 has 祭 on the right, 瘊 has 侯 (like a feudal lord), and 瘌 has 剌 (thorn).

瘵 is very rare today and mainly appears in classical or medical historical texts for tuberculosis or severe wasting illnesses. The common word 痨瘵 (láo zhài) was used in traditional Chinese medicine to describe advanced tuberculosis, but in modern Chinese people usually say 肺结核 (fèijiéhé) for tuberculosis.

Common words containing 瘵 include: 痨瘵 (láo zhài) — advanced tuberculosis; phthisis; 瘵疾 (zhài jí) — chronic wasting disease; 瘵客 (zhài kè) — person suffering from tuberculosis.