How to Write 畟 (cè) — Meaning “Neat and orderly (describing crops)”

Picture a farmer looking down at his field (田) and seeing the crops standing perfectly straight, like a comb with teeth. The bottom part looks like two hands (similar to 廾) combing the plants into neat lines, so you can remember "field + comb = orderly crops."

Start by writing the top radical 田 as a square with crossing lines, then move to the lower part. Be careful to keep the bottom narrow—write a left-falling stroke, a right-falling stroke, and a small dot exactly in the middle. A common mistake is making the bottom too wide, which ruins the balanced, tidy appearance.

The character 画 (huà, to draw) has the same top 田 but a completely different bottom that looks like a box with an inner stroke. 甾 (zāi, a chemical term) has 田 on top and three diagonal strokes (巛) below. 畟 is unique because its lower part has a clear dot tucked between two falling strokes, giving it a more compact look.

畟 is extremely rare today and appears mainly in classical poetry or agricultural texts describing neatly growing crops. It is not on the HSK list and is almost never used in daily conversation. You might encounter it in the doubled form 畟畟 (cè cè) to emphasize the orderliness of plants in a field.

Common words containing 畟 include: 畟畟 (cè cè) — Neat and orderly; 畟 (cè) — Neat and orderly (describing crops).