How to Write 崒 (zú) — Meaning “high; precipitous”

Imagine a mountain (山) so steep and high that a soldier (卒) climbing it suddenly falls off — the "sudden" action of 卒 helps you recall that 崒 means steep and precipitous. Picture the soldier shouting "Zú!" as he tumbles down the jagged peak.

Write the left mountain radical first, with three strokes (vertical, vertical fold, vertical). Then the right 卒 part: start with the top point, then the long horizontal, followed by the two verticals inside, and finish with the bottom cross stroke and two dots. A common mistake is making the right side too wide; keep the 卒 component compact to balance the character.

崒 has the component 卒 and means high and precipitous. 峇 often uses 合 (to close) and can mean a gorge or a mountain cave, while 峋 uses 旬 and appears in 嶙峋 (lín xún), meaning jagged or rugged rocks. Visually, 崒 has nine strokes on the right, whereas 峇 has six and 峋 has six in their non-radical parts.

崒 is very rare in modern Chinese, mostly appearing in classical poetry or descriptive texts about steep mountains. It is occasionally found in compound words like 崒屼 (high and steep) or 崒然 (suddenly), but these are literary expressions. The character preserves a classical feel and is not part of daily vocabulary.

Common words containing 崒 include: 崒屼 (zú wù) — high and steep; 崒律 (zú lǜ) — lofty and steep; 崒然 (zú rán) — suddenly; abruptly.