How to Write 檗 (bò) — Meaning “Amur cork tree”

Imagine a tree (木) that has a special 'bark' (like cork) and you need to 'peel' (辟 sounds like 'peel') it off. Or think: the top part 辟 looks like a hand trying to peel bark from the tree below. This connects the shape to the meaning of cork bark.

The top part 辟 has many strokes — write it first as a complete unit, then add the bottom 木. Make sure the top part is not too wide, and the 木 below sits centered under it. A common mistake is to make the bottom 木 too large or misalign the vertical stroke of 木 with the center of 辟.

All three are trees (木 radical), but they have different plants: 檗 is the Amur cork tree, 槭 is a maple tree, and 槲 is an oak tree. Visually, 檗 has the top 辟, while 槭 has 戚 (qì) and 槲 has 斛 (hú) as phonetic components. Focus on the top part to distinguish them.

檗 is rare in daily life but appears in traditional Chinese medicine, as the bark of the Amur cork tree (黄檗) is used for its cooling and anti-inflammatory properties. It also appears in the name of the famous Chan Buddhist master Huangbo (黄檗禅师). In modern writing, you will mostly see it in botanical or medical texts.

Common words containing 檗 include: 黄檗 (huáng bò) — Amur cork tree; 檗木 (bò mù) — Amur cork wood; 檗皮 (bò pí) — Amur cork bark.