蹱

It describes uneven or difficult walking. The meaning of 蹱 is clearest in 躘蹱, a compound glossed as walking crookedly, being unable to walk, or a small child’s unsteady gait. One literary use compares it with a rider bobbing as a horse moves.

Related heel-writing forms appear in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. A recognisable form of 蹱 appears in a Western Han manuscript image labelled “Laozi A106.” Character-history research traces overlapping forms including 𣦟, 踵, 歱, and 蹱 through the Warring States and Han periods; its foot component fits this vocabulary of heels and movement.

In a manuscript from the Mawangdui tombs in China, 蹱善時 uses 蹱 where later versions of the text have 動, “act,” making the line about acting at the right time. Later dictionaries preserve 蹱 chiefly in 躘蹱, for crooked or unsteady walking.

How do I type 蹱?

A pinyin IME or Unicode input can enter it. In a pinyin IME, enter zhong or chong without tone marks, then check the candidate list.

A pinyin IME may rank 蹱 low among characters with the same syllable; component or stroke input and a character picker are useful fallbacks. These desktop shortcuts were checked as of 2026-09-12; mobile keyboard menus vary.