How to Write 蕖 (qú) — Meaning “Lotus flower”

Imagine a lotus (荷花) growing out of a canal (渠) with grass (艹) on the water's surface. The bottom part 渠 sounds like 'cue,' and you can picture the lotus cueing you to remember its elegant shape. This links the plant (艹) to its watery home (渠).

Write the grass radical 艹 first (horizontal, vertical, vertical), then the left water radical 氵 (three dots), followed by 巨 (jù — horizontal, horizontal, vertical fold, vertical), and finally 木 (mù) at the bottom. A common mistake is to forget the 氵 dots or to write 巨 incorrectly by omitting the final vertical stroke. Keep the overall structure balanced: 艹 is narrow, and the bottom part is wider.

蕖 (qú) means 'lotus' and has the bottom component 渠 (canal). 莿 (cì) means 'thorn' and has the bottom 刺 (thorn), often used in words like 莿竹 (thorn bamboo). 菐 (pú) is a rare character meaning 'to gather' or 'to toil,' with a bottom part that looks like two 立 (stand) stacked. Visually, only 蕖 contains the water radical 氵 inside the bottom part.

蕖 is rarely used alone in daily conversation; it appears mainly in classical poetry, literary works, or elegant names. The most common word is 芙蕖 (fú qú), an old term for lotus, which symbolizes purity, beauty, and spiritual enlightenment in Chinese culture. You might encounter it in Buddhist texts or traditional poems praising the lotus's graceful nature.

Common words containing 蕖 include: 芙蕖 (fú qú) — Lotus; 红蕖 (hóng qú) — Red lotus; 采蕖 (cǎi qú) — to gather lotus flowers.