How to Write 葜 (qiā) — Meaning “smilax (China root)”

Imagine a "cheer" (qiā sounds like "cheer") for a plant with thorns: you gather smilax root while cheering. The grass radical on top reminds you it is a plant, and the lower part 契 looks like a contract for "root" medicine.

The top radical 艹 should be written with a long horizontal stroke covering the two vertical strokes. The bottom part 契 has a 大 (big) on the left and 丯 (a stroke pattern) on the right; keep the left side narrow and the right side wider. Common mistake is making the grass radical too small or misaligning the lower components.

葜 specifically refers to smilax (a medicinal vine), while 荷 (hé) means lotus or to carry, and 荸 (bí) is part of 荸荠 (water chestnut). Visually, 葜 has the lower part 契, whereas 荷 has 何 and 荸 has 孛. Their meanings are unrelated except they are all plants with the grass radical.

葜 is not common in daily conversation but appears in traditional Chinese medicine contexts, especially in the word 菝葜 (bá qiā) meaning smilax china root. It may also be found in herbal texts or when discussing wild plant gathering, as in 采葜 (cǎi qiā). Culturally, smilax has been used in folk remedies for arthritis and detoxification.

Common words containing 葜 include: 菝葜 (bá qiā) — China root; smilax china; 葜根 (qiā gēn) — smilax root; 采葜 (cǎi qiā) — to gather China root (smilax).