How to Write 葵 (kuí) — Meaning “sunflower / mallow”

Imagine a sunflower (艹 as the leaves) growing tall, with the bottom part 癸 looking like a person stretching both arms up toward the sun. This visual shows the sunflower's habit of turning its head to follow sunlight, matching the meaning.

Write the top radical 艹 first with three strokes (horizontal, vertical, vertical), then the bottom part 癸: left-falling, horizontal, horizontal, left-falling, vertical, horizontal, dot, left-falling, right-falling — nine strokes total. A common mistake is mixing up the bottom strokes of 癸, especially the final right-falling stroke which should be long and sweeping.

葵 (sunflower) has 癸 below, 荷 (lotus) has 何 (meaning 'what'), and 荸 (water chestnut) has 孛 (a phonetic component). Visually, 葵’s bottom part has more vertical and sloping strokes, while 荷 uses the simpler 何 with a square 口, and 荸 uses 孛 with a horizontal 子 shape.

葵 appears most often in 向日葵 (xiàng rì kuí, sunflower) and 葵花籽 (kuí huā zǐ, sunflower seeds), which are common snacks. In Chinese culture, sunflowers symbolize optimism and loyalty, and they are enjoyed in gardens and as a motif in art.

Common words containing 葵 include: 向日葵 (xiàng rì kuí) — sunflower; 葵花籽 (kuí huā zǐ) — sunflower seeds; 葵扇 (kuí shàn) — palm-leaf fan.