How to Write 禾 (hé) — Meaning “grain; seedling; cereal crops”

Imagine a tall stalk of rice with a heavy head bending down. The top stroke looks like the bent head, the horizontal line is a leaf, and the vertical and curved strokes are the stem and roots. Think "a grain plant with a drooping head" to easily recall 禾.

Write 禾 starting with a top left-falling stroke (撇), then a horizontal line, then a vertical stroke through the center, followed by another left-falling stroke from the intersection, and finally a dot on the right side. A common mistake is making the top stroke too long or forgetting the dot, which would make it look like the character 木 (tree) instead.

禾 is the simple grain plant shape, while 秀 (xiù) adds a 乃 component below meaning "elegant" or "beautiful." 私 (sī) has a 厶 (private) component on the right side, changing the meaning to "personal" or "selfish." Visually, look for extra strokes below (秀) or a triangular shape on the right (私).

禾 appears in agricultural words like 禾苗 (seedlings) and 禾谷 (cereal crops), but it is not common in everyday HSK vocabulary. Culturally, 禾 represents the foundation of Chinese farming, especially rice and wheat, and often appears in classical poetry to evoke rural life and harvest.

Common words containing 禾 include: 禾苗 (hé miáo) — seedlings (of cereal crops); 禾谷 (hé gǔ) — cereal crops; grain; 禾场 (hé cháng) — threshing floor.