How to Write 枞 (cōng/zōng) — Meaning “fir tree”

Imagine a fir tree (木) with two people (从) standing next to it, and they both say 'Cong!' to remind you of the sound cōng. The two people look like a pair, and the fir tree is tall and straight like a wooden pole.

Write 木 first (horizontal, vertical, left-down, right-down), then 从 with two 人 radicals (each 2 strokes: left-down, right-down). A common mistake is making the right side too wide — the two 人 should be narrow and balanced. Also, the horizontal line of 木 should align near the middle of the right side.

Compared to 朱 (zhū, meaning 'red'), 枞 has two people (从) on the right, while 朱 has a horizontal line through the middle (like 木 with a dash). Compared to 朴 (pǔ, meaning 'simple'), 枞 has 从 on the right, but 朴 has 卜 (bǔ) on the right — 卜 looks like a hook or a small cross.

枞 is not a common daily character, but it appears in place names like 枞阳 (Zōngyáng, a county in Anhui Province) and in botany as 枞树 (cōng shù, 'fir tree'). Note that when used in place names, it is often pronounced zōng instead of cōng, so pay attention to context.

Common words containing 枞 include: 枞树 (cōng shù) — fir tree; 枞木 (cōng mù) — fir wood; 枞阳 (zōng yáng) — Zongyang (a place name).