How to Write 菰 (gū) — Meaning “Wild rice (root character)”

Imagine a wild rice plant growing under a bright sun—the top part 艹 is the grass, and the bottom 瓜 looks like a little gourd or melon. Picture the wild rice seeds as tiny melon-like grains to link 瓜 to the plant's edible seeds.

Write the top radical 艹 first as three strokes: horizontal, vertical, vertical. Then write the bottom part 瓜 in 5 strokes: left-falling stroke, horizontal hook, left-falling, right-falling, and a final dot. Keep the grass radical wide to cover the lower component, and make sure 瓜 is centered below it.

菰 has the radical 艹 with 瓜 (melon) underneath, meaning wild rice. 兹 (zī) has 艹 over 兹 and means 'this' or 'now' — it is not a plant name in the same way. 苧 (zhù) also has 艹 but with 宁, and it refers to ramie, a fiber plant. So the bottom component changes the meaning entirely.

菰 appears in words like 菰米 (wild rice grain) and 茭菰 (wild rice stem, a popular vegetable in Chinese cuisine). It is not a common daily character, but it is used in agricultural or culinary contexts. In traditional Chinese culture, wild rice was a food source for ancient people and is still valued as a healthful ingredient.

Common words containing 菰 include: 菰米 (gū mǐ) — Wild rice; 菰菜 (gū cài) — Zizania latifolia (vegetable); 茭菰 (jiāo gū) — wild rice stem.