Chinese character 翯

It describes abundant, glossy-white bird plumage. The Shijing, an early Chinese poetry collection also called the Classic of Poetry, uses 翯翯 in a line about white birds in a royal park. Traditional character analysis links 羽 (“feather”) to the meaning and treats 高 as a sound cue. The poems are generally dated around 1000–600 BCE.

A different classical work, Shanglin fu by Sima Xiangru, applies 翯 to water with a bright white gleam. The literary expression 翯然 describes a strikingly white or glossy appearance.

How do I type 翯?

In a Mandarin pinyin input method, type he and choose 翯 under fourth-tone hè. A one-syllable search may return many homophones. If 翯 does not appear, try stroke or component search, or enable your input method’s rare-character display.