How to Write 艾 (ài/yì) — Meaning “mugwort; artemisia”

Imagine a small cross (like the 乂 shape) growing out of a patch of grass (艹) - this cross represents a bundle of dried mugwort tied for use. The shape of 乂 also looks like two crossed stems of the mugwort plant. So remember: grass on top, crossed stems below, and you have mugwort.

Write the grass radical (艹) first as two horizontal strokes then two vertical strokes, making it wider than the bottom part. The bottom part 乂 must be centered under the grass, with the left stroke starting slightly higher and crossing the right stroke in the middle. A common mistake is making the lower part too tall or unbalanced - keep the overall height roughly equal between top and bottom.

艾 (ài) contains the grass radical (艹) on top but has a complete bottom part 乂, while 艹 alone is just the radical and never used independently as a character. 艺 (yì) looks similar but its bottom part is 乙 (yǐ) - a curved hook with a horizontal stroke - not 乂. Also, 艺 means 'art' or 'skill,' while 艾 means a specific plant.

艾 is most commonly seen in 艾草 (ài cǎo) meaning mugwort, a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion and in food like green rice balls for the Qingming Festival. It also appears in 艾绒 (ài róng, moxa wool) used in acupuncture therapy, and in the idiom 自怨自艾 (zì yuàn zì yì), where it specifically means 'to reform oneself' - this is its only non-plant meaning.

Common words containing 艾 include: 艾草 (ài cǎo) — mugwort; wormwood; 艾绒 (ài róng) — moxa; moxa wool; 自怨自艾 (zì yuàn zì yì) — to be full of remorse; to regret and reform.