How to Write 肫 (zhūn) — Meaning “gizzard”

Think of 月 (flesh) as the "meat" and 屯 as a "storage" area — a gizzard stores food and rocks for digestion. Visualize a chicken's gizzard as a little pouch (屯) made of meat (月). This helps link the shape to the meaning.

The left radical 月 must be written narrow and tall, with its two horizontal strokes parallel. The right part 屯 has a 一 (horizontal) then a vertical sweeping stroke (竖弯钩) — be careful not to make the hook too small. A common mistake is making the right side too wide, which unbalances the character.

肫 (zhūn) means "gizzard" and uses the 月 radical for meat, while 有 (yǒu) means "to have" and uses the same radical but with a different right component (又). 朊 (ruǎn) is a rare character meaning "gelatin" or a chemical term, with 月 + 元. Visually, 肫's right side is 屯, 有's is 又, and 朊's is 元 — all are distinct in stroke order and shape.

肫 appears mainly in food contexts like 鸭肫 (duck gizzard) and 鸡肫 (chicken gizzard), common in Chinese cuisine often served as appetizers or in soups. It is not in the HSK list, so it is a specialized character for cooking or ordering food. In traditional Chinese medicine, gizzards are also used for digestion remedies.

Common words containing 肫 include: 鸭肫 (yā zhūn) — Duck gizzard; 鸡肫 (jī zhūn) — Chicken gizzard; 肫肝 (zhūn gān) — gizzard and liver.