How to Write 墓 (mù) — Meaning “tomb”

Imagine a tomb (土) covered by a mound of grass shaped like the top part 莫, which looks like a plant with long stems. You can also remember that 'mo' sounds like 'mound' and 'tu' means earth, so 'mound of earth' is a tomb.

The top part 莫 has 10 strokes: first write the horizontal, then the vertical, then the two small crosses inside, then the big horizontal at the bottom. A common mistake is making the bottom horizontal of 莫 too short, so it doesn't cover the 土 below properly.

墓 means tomb and has 莫 on top, while 埝 (niàn) means a low dyke or bank and has 念 on top, and 域 (yù) means territory or region and has 或 on top. So look at the upper component: 莫 vs. 念 vs. 或 to know which is which.

墓 appears in words like 墓地 (cemetery) and 扫墓 (to sweep a grave), which is an important tradition during Qingming Festival. Chinese families visit tombs to clean them and offer respects, so this character is closely tied to ancestral veneration customs.

Common words containing 墓 include: 墓地 (mù dì) — cemetery; 扫墓 (sǎo mù) — to visit a grave; to pay respects at a tomb; 墓碑 (mù bēi) — tombstone.