How to Write 瑱 (zhèn) — Meaning “jade earplug”

Imagine a "truly" precious jade earplug: the left side 王 stands for jade, and the right side 真 sounds like "zhen" and means "true." So think of a jade earplug that is so valuable it is "true jade." This connects the sound and meaning.

The character has 14 strokes: first write the left 王 (four strokes: horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal), then the right 真 (ten strokes: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, dot). A common mistake is forgetting the final dot in 真 or making the right side too wide.

瑱 specifically means a jade earplug, while 琚 (jū) means a jade ring worn on the finger, and 琛 (chēn) means a precious treasure or gem. Visually, 瑱 has 真 inside, 琚 has 居, and 琛 has a different right component related to depth. Their meanings are distinct in jewelry and treasure categories.

瑱 is very rare in everyday modern Chinese and is mostly encountered in ancient texts, historical descriptions of jewelry, or personal names like 瑱瑱 (Tiantian). It is not part of the HSK vocabulary, so you will primarily see it in formal or literary contexts about jade ornaments.

Common words containing 瑱 include: 瑱子 (zhèn zi) — jade earplug; 瑱瑱 (zhèn zhèn) — Tiantian (a name); 瑱发 (zhèn fā) — hair ornament.