How to Write 荸 (bí) — Meaning “Water chestnut (short for 荸荠)”

Imagine a grass plant (艹) growing under a child's nose (子) — the child sneezes "bí!" and a water chestnut pops out. The bottom part 荸 looks like 子 (child) with some extra strokes, so picture a kid sneezing a chestnut.

Write the top grass radical (艹) first, then the bottom part which is like 子 but with an extra horizontal stroke before the final hook. A common mistake is forgetting the little left-falling stroke (㇏) in the bottom right; make sure the character has 10 strokes total.

荸 (bí) is a grass radical plant name for water chestnut, while 兹 (zī) means 'now' or 'this' and has no grass radical. 苑 (yuàn) also has grass radical but means 'garden' or 'cultivated area' and is pronounced yuàn. Visually, 荸 has a 子-like bottom, 兹 has 玄 underneath, and 苑 has 夗.

荸 is almost never used alone; it always appears in the word 荸荠 (bí qi) meaning water chestnut. You might see it on menus for dishes like 荸荠水 (water chestnut drink) or 荸荠糕 (water chestnut cake), especially during Chinese New Year as water chestnuts symbolize good luck.

Common words containing 荸 include: 荸荠 (bí qí) — Water chestnut; 荸荠水 (bí qí shuǐ) — Water chestnut drink; 荸荠糕 (bí qí gāo) — Water chestnut cake.