How to Write 縻 (mí) — Meaning “to tie up”

Imagine a piece of hemp rope (麻) made of many thin silk threads (糸) that you use to firmly tie a bundle. Picture the word 'mí' sounding like 'me' — as in 'Tie me up!' — to link the sound and meaning.

The top part 麻 has a specific order: first write the two dots (丶丶), then the left-falling stroke (丿), horizontal (一), another left-falling (丿), a dot (丶), and a short horizontal hook (⺄). The bottom 糸 is standard: left-falling (丿), vertical hook (㇀), dot (丶), dot (丶), and a small right-falling (㇏). A common mistake is forgetting the second dot in 麻 or making the bottom 糸 too wide.

Both 縻 and 繁 share the 糸 bottom, but 縻's top is 麻 (hemp) while 繁's top is 籤 (a phonetic component meaning 'many'). 繁 means 'numerous' or 'complicated', not 'to tie'. 縩 is a very rare character (meaning 'ragged cloth'), also with 糸, but its top is 祭 (sacrifice) — visually different from 麻. So the key is to remember 麻 on top for 'tie'.

縻 is not in the HSK and is rarely used alone. It appears mainly in classical or historical terms such as 羁縻 (jī mí, to control frontier tribes) and 縻费 (mí fèi, to waste or squander, literally 'tie up expenses'). You might encounter it in literary texts discussing ancient Chinese border policies or in phrases about restraining resources.

Common words containing 縻 include: 羁縻 (jī mí) — To restrain; to control (historically used for frontier tribes); 縻费 (mí fèi) — to waste or squander; 縻系 (mí xì) — to bind or tie up.