Chinese character 竖

It describes upright direction and names a straight-down writing stroke.

The older graph 豎 appears in inscriptions on bronze vessels and in manuscripts from the ancient state of Chu. The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese dictionary, gives its small-seal script form (an early standardized writing style), glosses it as “to stand upright,” and records a variant in another early script.

That physical sense grew into words for direction and setting something upright, and then the name for a vertical stroke. 横 and 竖 form the familiar horizontal–vertical pair.

Is 竖 a vertical stroke in Chinese?

Yes: 竖 names the stroke that runs straight down a character.

The same core appears in 竖起, 竖直, and 竖排: raise something upright, vertical, and vertical arrangement. 一横一竖 describes a horizontal stroke paired with a vertical one.

Calligraphy also names strokes by their finish. 悬针竖, literally a “hanging needle” stroke, ends in a fine point.

Why is 竖 confused with 树?

They share a Mandarin pronunciation, and older usage let their meanings overlap.

Use 竖起旗杆, 竖立招牌, or 竖直放置 for making a physical thing upright. In edited Chinese, writers usually choose 树立榜样 or 树立形象 for establishing an abstract example or image. A concrete image can become metaphorical too: 竖起丰碑 may invite an editorial choice.

In classical compounds, 竖 can refer to a servant or low-ranking subordinate; 阉竖 refers to a eunuch, and such terms can be contemptuous. A lone 竖 in ordinary writing does not carry that insult by default.