U+9CC5 "鳅" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

U+9CC5 "鳅" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a Chinese character representing the loach, a small bottom-dwelling freshwater fish often found in muddy waters across East Asia. In modern Chinese, it is commonly used in the word "泥鳅" (ní qiū), which specifically refers to the loach, a species valued in culinary traditions for its tender flesh and perceived health benefits, such as nourishing the body and improving vitality. The character itself belongs to the radical for "fish" (鱼) and has historical roots in classical texts, where it occasionally appears in agricultural or dietary contexts. As part of the CJK (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) unified ideographs block, this character is shared across multiple East Asian writing systems, though its usage and pronunciation vary slightly between languages, such as "dojō" in Japanese.