How to Write 芙 (fú) — Meaning “Hibiscus / Lotus”

Imagine a "husband" (夫) picking a beautiful flower from the grass (艹) — the flower is a hibiscus, which is 芙. The sound "fu" in 夫 helps you recall the pronunciation fú. Visualize the grass on top and the husband below to form the complete character.

Write the grass radical 艹 first as three strokes: horizontal, then left vertical, then right vertical. Then write 夫: horizontal, vertical, left-falling stroke, and finally right-falling stroke. A common mistake is making the top grass too wide or the bottom 夫 too tall — keep them balanced and the vertical stroke of 夫 aligned with the center.

芙 contains 夫 (husband) below the grass, while 兹 (zī) has 玄 (dark/mysterious) below the grass and means "thus" or "now." 艻 (lè) is very rare and has 力 (power) below the grass; visually, 芙's bottom part has a clear horizontal stroke and two slanted strokes, unlike the others. Focus on the radical components to tell them apart.

芙 appears most often in the word 芙蓉 (fú róng), which refers to the hibiscus flower or the cottonrose hibiscus. It is also used in dishes like 芙蓉蛋 (Egg Foo Young) and as a place name, such as 芙蓉镇 (Furong Town). In Chinese poetry and culture, 芙蓉 symbolizes beauty and purity, similar to the lotus.

Common words containing 芙 include: 芙蓉 (fú róng) — Hibiscus / Cottonrose hibiscus; 芙蓉蛋 (fú róng dàn) — Egg Foo Young (Hibiscus egg); 芙蓉镇 (fú róng zhèn) — Furong Town.