How to Write 糇 (hóu) — Meaning “Dry food”

Think of a monkey (侯) carrying a bag of rice (米) for a long journey. The monkey needs dry food that won't spoil, so it packs 糇 (dry provisions). This image links the character's components to its meaning of travel rations.

The left radical 米 has 6 strokes: first the two dots, then a horizontal, vertical, left-falling, and right-falling strokes. The right part 侯 has 9 strokes; be careful to write the left vertical stroke of 侯 first, then the short horizontal, then the rest. A common mistake is to make the right side too narrow or to forget the small horizontal stroke inside 侯.

糇 specifically means dry food or travel rations, while 粮 (liáng) is a general word for grain or food provisions. 粱 (liáng) refers to a type of millet or high-quality grain. Visually, 糇 has the phonetic 侯, 粮 has 良, and 粱 has 粱 (with 米 on top and 粱 below). In usage, 糇 is very rare and literary, while 粮 is common in daily Chinese.

糇 is rarely used in modern spoken Chinese; it appears mostly in classical literature or historical texts about ancient travel. The word 糇粮 can be found in idioms or poems describing long journeys where people carried dried provisions. Today, you might see it in historical novels or cultural contexts referencing ancient Chinese military or trade caravans.

Common words containing 糇 include: 糇粮 (hóu liáng) — Travel rations; 糇食 (hóu shí) — Dry provisions; 糇粑 (hóu bā) — Dry cake.