How to Write 獐 (zhāng) — Meaning “River deer”

Imagine a river deer (獐) with a colorful pattern on its body like a chapter (章) in a book. The dog radical 犭 reminds you it's an animal, and 章 helps you recall the sound zhāng. Picture the deer standing in a river to remember "river deer"

獐 has 14 strokes. Write the left 犭 first (three strokes: dot, left-falling downward, hook). Then the right side 章: start with 立 (top dot, horizontal, then point-down, horizontal, vertical) then 早 (bottom horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal, vertical). Ensure the right side is balanced and not too wide. A common mistake is making the left 犭 too big — keep it narrow.

獐 (zhāng) means river deer, while 猢 (hú) means monkey or rascal, as in 猢狲 (húsūn, monkey). 猥 (wěi) means obscene or vulgar, and is often used in words like 猥琐 (wěisuǒ, wretched). Visually, 猢 has 胡 on the right, 猥 has 畏 on the right, while 獐 has 章. The meanings are completely unrelated.

獐 is not a common character in everyday conversation. It appears in the word 獐子 (zhāngzi) for the river deer animal, and in the idiom 獐头鼠目 (zhāngtóushǔmù), which describes a person with a cunning or ugly appearance. You might see it in wildlife texts or classical literature, but it's rarely used in modern daily life.

Common words containing 獐 include: 獐子 (zhāng zi) — River deer; 獐头鼠目 (zhāng tóu shǔ mù) — Repulsive appearance; shifty-looking; 獐鹿 (zhāng lù) — River deer.