How to Write 苠 (mín) — Meaning “bamboo skin / numerous”

Picture a field of grass (艹) that is so thick and numerous that it hides many people (民) inside. The people are barely visible because the grass is lush and flourishing. This visual of "grass + people = numerous" helps recall the meaning of abundance.

The top part 艹 (grass radical) should be written with two short horizontal strokes, not longer ones. The bottom part 民 has a diagonal hook that goes left, not right, and its final stroke is a dot after the hook. A common mistake is making the 民 component too tall or misplacing the hook direction.

苠 has the grass radical over 民 (people), while 兹 (zī) has the grass radical over 玄 (dark/distant) and means "this" or "now." 艻 (lè) has the grass radical plus 力 (power) and refers to a type of plant. Pay attention to the bottom component: 苠 uses 民, 兹 uses 玄, and 艻 uses 力.

苠 is not a common character in daily modern Chinese and is rarely used alone. It appears mostly in classical or agricultural contexts, such as in the word 苠苠 meaning "numerous and flourishing" for plants or vast landscapes. You might encounter it in literary descriptions of lush fields or dense bamboo forests.

Common words containing 苠 include: 苠苠 (mín mín) — numerous / flourishing; 苠原 (mín yuán) — vast plain; 庄稼苠 (zhuāng jià mín) — lush crops.