How to Write 李 (lǐ) — Meaning “Plum; Li (surname)”

Imagine a strong tree (木) standing in a garden, and under it a small child (子) is picking plums from the branches. The child represents the fruit, making it easy to recall that 李 means "plum." This visual pairing of tree and child helps fix the character in your mind.

Write 木 first: horizontal line, vertical stroke, then left-falling and right-falling strokes—keep the tree part balanced and not too wide. Next write 子: start with a horizontal hook (横撇), then a vertical hook (弯钩), and finish with a horizontal line; make sure the 子 is centered below the 木. A common mistake is making the 木 too tall or the 子 too large, which ruins the proportion.

李 has two clear components: 木 on top and 子 below, giving it a taller, two-part structure. In contrast, 未 (wèi, meaning "not yet") and 末 (mò, meaning "end") are single characters that look like a tree (木) with an extra horizontal line—未 has a second horizontal line near the top, while 末 has one at the bottom. Focus on the bottom part: 李 has 子, while 未 and 末 have no additional component below the tree.

李 is extremely common as a Chinese surname, ranking among the top surnames in China, and appears in famous names like the poet Li Bai. It also appears in everyday words such as 李子 (lǐ zi, plum fruit) and 行李 (xíng lǐ, luggage). Culturally, the surname Li is associated with many historical figures and is often written as "Lee" in English.

Common words containing 李 include: 李子 (lǐ zi) — Plum; 行李 (xíng lǐ) — Luggage; 李先生 (lǐ xiān shēng) — Mr. Li.