How to Write 亩 (mǔ) — Meaning “mu (a Chinese unit of area, approx. 0.0667 hectares)”

Imagine a lid (亠) placed on a field (田) to measure exactly one mu of land. This visual of a cover over a field helps you remember that 亩 is a unit of area for farmland.

Write the dot and horizontal line for 亠 first, then draw the 田 below with its box and inner cross. A common mistake is making the top horizontal line too long or forgetting to align the dot with the vertical center of 田. Keep the dot centered above the field.

亩 has 田 (field) as its bottom, while 㐬 has a flowing curve and 㐭 has a different top (like 亠 with a short line) and no 田. Unlike 亩, these characters are extremely rare and not used in modern Chinese for area measurement, so you will almost never encounter them.

亩 is used to measure land area, especially for farmland and real estate in China. For example, you might hear '一亩地' (one mu of land) in farming news. Culturally, it remains a traditional unit that coexists with hectares, and many Chinese people still think of land in terms of mu.

Common words containing 亩 include: 一亩地 (yī mǔ dì) — one mu of land (approx. 0.0667 hectares); 亩产 (mǔ chǎn) — yield per mu; 公亩 (gōng mǔ) — Are (unit of area, 100 square meters).