How to Write 疹 (zhěn) — Meaning “rash”

Imagine a person (the right side 㐱 looks like a stick figure) lying on a sickbed (the left radical 疒) with red dots all over their body. This image of a sick person covered in spots helps you remember that 疹 means 'rash' or 'skin eruption'.

The left radical 疒 is written first with 5 strokes: dot, horizontal, left-falling, dot, then a left-falling stroke to the bottom. The right part 㐱 has 5 strokes: left-falling, vertical, horizontal, left-falling, right-falling. A common mistake is to forget the horizontal stroke in the middle of 㐱, or to write the two bottom strokes in the wrong order (left-falling before right-falling).

疹 specifically means a skin rash, like in 湿疹 (eczema) or 风疹 (rubella). 疙 (gē) means a small lump or pimple, often used in 疙瘩 (bump, lump), and is not for widespread rashes. 疚 (jiù) means a feeling of guilt or remorse, not a physical condition, as in 内疚 (guilty). Visually, their right parts are different: 疹 has 㐱, 疙 has 乞, and 疚 has 久.

疹 is used in medical and everyday contexts to describe skin rashes, such as 疹子 (rash) or 湿疹 (eczema). It appears in disease names like 风疹 (rubella, German measles). In Chinese culture, rashes are often linked to 'internal heat' or toxins in traditional medicine, so treating 疹 may involve cooling herbs or dietary changes.

Common words containing 疹 include: 疹子 (zhěn zi) — rash; 湿疹 (shī zhěn) — Eczema.; 风疹 (fēng zhěn) — Rubella; German measles.