How to Write 蒿 (hāo) — Meaning “Wormwood”

Imagine a tall, high grass plant — the bottom part 高 means "high" and the top grass radical 艹 means plant. So you can think of "high grass" for wormwood, which often grows tall. You can also remember that the sound "hāo" is like saying "how" and imagine asking "How tall is that wormwood?"

When writing 蒿, first draw the grass radical 艹 as three strokes: a horizontal line, then a short left vertical, and a short right vertical — make it compact. Then write the bottom part 高, which has many strokes: start with a dot, then horizontal, then a mouth shape, and finally a curved bottom. Common mistake is making the grass radical too wide or the bottom part 高 too narrow, so keep them balanced.

蒿 has the bottom part 高 (high), while 莿 has 刺 (thorn) and 菀 has 宛 (winding). 蒿 means wormwood, a specific plant; 莿 (cì) means thorn or a spiny plant, and 菀 (wǎn or yù) means lush vegetation. Visually, 蒿 looks like grass with a tall bottom, 莿 has a thorn-like bottom, and 菀 has a rounded bottom part.

蒿 is used in words like 青蒿 (sweet wormwood) and 蒿草 (wormwood grass), especially in traditional Chinese medicine. 青蒿 is famous as the source of artemisinin, a malaria drug discovered by Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, which earned her a Nobel Prize. In poetry, 蒿 can also symbolize wild, untended grass or sadness.

Common words containing 蒿 include: 青蒿 (qīng hāo) — sweet wormwood; 蒿草 (hāo cǎo) — Wormwood grass; 蒿子 (hāo zi) — Wormwood plant.