How to Write 瓢 (piáo) — Meaning “ladle”

Imagine a ladybug (瓢虫) sitting on a ticket (票) that is made from a dried gourd (瓜). This combines the image of the most common word, 瓢虫, with the character's components to help you recall that 瓢 means "ladle."

The left radical 瓜 should be narrow and balanced, taking up about one-third of the width, while the right part 票 is taller and wider. A common mistake is making 瓜 too wide, so keep it compact and write 瓜 first, then finish all strokes of 票, especially the top "sun" component (日) which should not be too large.

The most common words are 水瓢 (shuǐ piáo, water ladle) and 瓢虫 (piáo chóng, ladybug), with 瓢虫 literally meaning "ladle insect" because of the ladybug's domed shape. The phrase 一瓢水 (yī piáo shuǐ, a ladle of water) appears in the famous idiom "弱水三千，只取一瓢饮" (ruò shuǐ sān qiān, zhǐ qǔ yī piáo yǐn), which means "among vast choices, I take only one ladle"—used to express contentment or focused choice.

Today, 瓢 appears most often in the word 瓢虫 (ladybug) and in traditional contexts like 水瓢 (water ladle), which is still used in rural areas. The character is not in the HSK vocabulary list, but it is culturally significant through the classical idiom about taking "one ladle of water," which appears in literature and speeches to express a humble, focused choice.

Common words containing 瓢 include: 水瓢 (shuǐ piáo) — Water ladle; 瓢虫 (piáo chóng) — ladybug; 一瓢水 (yī piáo shuǐ) — a ladle of water.