Chinese character 庥

It means tree shade, shelter, or protection.

The Eastern Han dictionary 《说文》 is the earliest known written record of 庥. It lists it as an alternate written form of 休, “to stop and rest,” with 广 where 休 has 亻. 《尔雅》, an early Chinese reference work, gives 庥 as tree shade; a Jin-era commentary says people used it for shade from trees in ordinary speech.

Song-era dictionaries record 庥 in compounds for shelter and protection; Tang-era prose also uses it for favor granted by a deity or ruler. Read these as connected images rather than a simple timeline: rest, shade, shelter, and protection received from another.

How do I type 庥?

Use Mandarin pinyin xiu or xiū, or Cangjie 戈人木.

On a Chinese input method that uses pinyin, the letter-based spelling system for Mandarin, enter xiu or xiū and select 庥. Cangjie is a shape-based Chinese input method; enter 戈人木 and select 庥.