How to Write 稗 (bài) — Meaning “barnyard grass; minor; unofficial”

Imagine a low (卑) weed growing among valuable grain (禾) — that weed is barnyard grass, or 稗. This helps you remember both the pronunciation bài and the meaning of a minor, weed-like plant.

Write the left 禾 narrow and the right 卑 slightly wider, with the horizontal stroke in 卑 crossing through the middle of the component. A common mistake is making the right part too tall or forgetting the short horizontal line inside 卑; total strokes are 13.

稗 has 卑 on the right, meaning barnyard grass or unofficial. 秸 (jiē) has 吉 on the right and means straw or stalk, while 移 (yí) has 多 on the right and means to move. Visually, the right-side component is the key difference.

稗 appears in farming contexts for weeds like 稗子 (barnyard grass) and in the phrase 稗官野史, which means unofficial histories and anecdotes. It is a classical, low-frequency character not in HSK, so learners mainly encounter it in literature or agricultural discussions.

Common words containing 稗 include: 稗子 (bài zi) — barnyard grass; 稗草 (bài cǎo) — barnyard grass; weed; 稗官野史 (bài guān yě shǐ) — unofficial histories and anecdotes.