How to Write 芾 (fèi) — Meaning “Luxuriant foliage; small”

Imagine a small plant (艹) wearing a cloth scarf (巿) to protect its leaves. The scarf shape below helps you recall that the character means "lush foliage" or "small." The bottom part looks like a little cloth wrapped around the grass.

Start with the grass radical: write a horizontal stroke, then a left vertical, then a right vertical. Then write the bottom part 巿 as horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical (no dot). A common mistake is confusing the bottom with 市 (market), which has a dot; 芾 has no dot and the bottom horizontal is slightly wider.

芾 has the bottom part 巿, which looks like a scarf with no dot. 兹 has a bottom part 玄 (like a thread) and means "now" or "this." 艻 has a bottom part 力 (power) and refers to a medicinal plant. Visually, 芾's bottom is wider and flatter than the others.

芾 is very rare in modern daily speech and is mainly found in classical literature or poetic phrases like 蔽芾 (bì fèi), meaning "lush foliage." It is not part of the HSK vocabulary, so you might only encounter it in ancient texts or nature descriptions. Its use carries a literary and refined tone.

Common words containing 芾 include: 蔽芾 (bì fèi) — small / lush foliage (literary); 芾芾 (fèi fèi) — Luxuriant (referring to foliage); 芾子 (fèi zi) — Feizi (an ancient term for small trees or shrubs).