匕 as a component of Chinese characters takes different forms in different printing typefaces or different Chinese characters. In the Kangxi Dictionary, current standard Simplified Chinese, Hong Kong Traditional Chinese, and Japanese, the second stroke of 匕 is a left-falling stroke. In Taiwan Traditional Chinese, the Standard Form of National Characters prescribes the second stroke of 匕 is horizontal, 匕 with a left-falling second stroke is also widely used.
The nuance of this character applies to both printing and handwriting forms.
2nd stroke left-falling
2nd stroke horizontal
匕
匕
化
化
化
Kangxi Dict. Simp. Chinese
Hong Kong Macau Japanese Korean
Taiwan
Literature
Fazzioli, Edoardo (1987). Chinese calligraphy : from pictograph to ideogram : the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters. calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko. New York: Abbeville Press. ISBN0-89659-774-1.
GF 0011-2009 Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components prescribes 201 principle indexing components and 100 associated indexing components (in brackets) used in Simplified Chinese. Not all associated indexing components are listed above.