How to Write 菔 (fú) — Meaning “radish (used in 'laifu')”

Imagine a radish (grass radical) wearing a suit, because 服 means clothes. Picture a radish dressed up in a little outfit to remember the right side. This fun image helps link the plant meaning with the phonetic part.

The top radical 艹 should be wide, covering the whole character. The right side 服 has a horizontal stroke at the top, then a vertical line, and a small component 卩 (seal). Keep the right side balanced and not too narrow, and make sure the last stroke of 卩 is a vertical hook.

菔, 兹, and 苧 all have the grass radical, but their bottoms differ. 菔 has 服 (clothes), 兹 has 玄 (mysterious), and 苧 has 宁 (peaceful). Only 菔 is used for radish; 兹 means 'this' or 'now', and 苧 refers to ramie, a plant used for fiber.

菔 appears mainly in the formal word 莱菔 (láifú) for radish, often in traditional medicine or old texts. In daily life, Chinese speakers say 白萝卜 (báiluóbo) or 胡萝卜 (húluóbo). The seed 莱菔子 is used in herbal medicine to help digestion.

Common words containing 菔 include: 莱菔 (lái fú) — radish; 莱菔子 (lái fú zi) — radish seed; 莱菔汤 (lái fú tāng) — radish soup.