How to Write 粮 (liáng) — Meaning “Grain; food.”

Imagine a bowl of rice (米) that is of good quality (良) — that is your main food. This visual of 'good rice' helps link the character to its meaning of grain or food.

Write the left radical 米 first (strokes: dot, left-falling, horizontal, vertical, right-falling, dot), then the right part 良. Keep the left side slightly narrower than the right, and avoid making the 米 too wide. A common mistake is misplacing the final dot on 良.

粮 (grain/food) uses 良 on the right, while 粒 (grain/unit) uses 立 and means a single small grain, and 粕 (dregs) uses 白 meaning residue. Visually, 粮 has the 良 component, whereas 粒 has 立 and 粕 has 白.

粮 appears in common words like 粮食 (grain supply) and 粗粮 (whole grains). It is used in contexts of food production and diet, and culturally reflects the high value of grain in Chinese agriculture, such as in the saying '民以食为天' (food is the first necessity).

Common words containing 粮 include: 粮食 (liáng shí) — Grain; foodstuff.; 粗粮 (cū liáng) — coarse grains; whole grains; 粮店 (liáng diàn) — Grain shop..