How to Write 踵 (zhǒng) — Meaning “heel; to follow”

Imagine a heavy (重) footprint on your foot (足) — specifically on your heel. The right side 重 suggests weight pressing down, which reminds you that your heel supports your body weight. So 踵 = foot + heavy = heel.

The left radical 足 has seven strokes and must be written narrow, with the last vertical stroke turning left into a short hook. The right part 重 is nine strokes — ensure the central vertical line goes straight through, and the bottom horizontal stroke is slightly longer than the one above. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or forgetting the short horizontal inside 重.

踵 (zhǒng) means "heel" or "to follow" and is only used in compound words like 接踵. 䠀 (tǎng) means "to stamp" or "to walk carelessly" and is extremely rare. 跽 (jì) means "to kneel" and has a different right component (忌). Visually, 踵 has 重 on the right, while 跽 has 忌; 䠀 looks like 足 + 尚 but is archaic.

踵 is almost never used alone in daily speech; it appears in set phrases like 接踵而至 (to come one after another) and 摩肩接踵 (so crowded that people rub shoulders and touch heels). These idioms are common in formal writing, news, or literature to describe continuous events or heavy crowds. Understanding 踵 helps in recognizing these cultural expressions of sequence and density.

Common words containing 踵 include: 接踵而至 (jiē zhǒng ér zhì) — to come one after another; 摩肩接踵 (mó jiān jiē zhǒng) — crowded shoulder to shoulder; 接踵 (jiē zhǒng) — to follow hard upon / one after another.