How to Write 蓠 (lí) — Meaning “a type of seaweed”

Imagine a "grass" (艹) growing on the ocean floor, while the bottom part 离 looks like a "net" (think of the shape) used to gather seaweed. Picture a fisherman leaving (离) the shore to collect this plant from the sea. This visual link helps you connect the grass radical with the sea.

Pay attention to the bottom part 离: it has a square-like structure with a vertical line down the center, not a simple box. A common mistake is to make the 离 section too tall or to forget the small撇 and 点 inside. Keep the 艹 radical wide and flat, and write the 离 part with balanced proportions—the whole character should be slightly squarish.

蓠 (lí) means seaweed and has the phonetic 离. 莿 (cì) has the phonetic 刺 and means "thorn" or "splinter"—it is a plant with sharp points. 菀 (wǎn or yù) has the phonetic 宛 and means "luxuriant growth" or is used in plant names like 紫菀 (aster). Visually, 蓠 has a more open bottom, while 莿 has a left-right structure with 束 on the right, and 菀 has 宛 under the grass radical.

蓠 is a rare character not in the HSK list, but it appears in specialized contexts like biology or traditional Chinese medicine. It is most commonly seen in the word 江蓠 (jiāng lí), which is a type of red seaweed called gracilaria, used to make agar. You might also encounter it in classical poetry referring to gathering seaweed along rivers or coasts.

Common words containing 蓠 include: 江蓠 (jiāng lí) — gracilaria (a type of seaweed); 蓠草 (lí cǎo) — li grass; 采蓠 (cǎi lí) — to gather gracilaria (seaweed).