How to Write 蕤 (ruí) — Meaning “Drooping / Lush growth”

Imagine a plant (艹) growing so thick that it makes a pig (豕, the lower right part) look like it is drooping from the weight. The sound ruí can remind you of 'rainbow'—picture a rainbow-shaped flower bending downward with lush leaves.

Write the top grass radical first (3 strokes: horizontal, vertical, vertical). The lower part is complex: first the left side (a vertical line and a horizontal), then the middle 生 shape (5 strokes), and finally the right 豕 shape (6 strokes). Keep all horizontal strokes evenly spaced, and make the bottom 豕 slightly wider with a curled tail stroke.

蕤 has a bottom part that combines a 生 shape on top of a 豕 shape, giving it more strokes and a drooping look. 葄 has the simpler bottom 乍 (meaning 'sudden'), while 蒗 has 浪 (which includes the water radical 氵). Only 蕤 conveys the idea of lush, hanging growth.

蕤 is almost never used alone today; it appears in the literary compound 葳蕤 (wēi ruí), meaning 'luxuriant and drooping,' often in poetry or nature descriptions. It also survives in the classical music term 蕤宾 (ruí bīn), an ancient note. You will rarely see it outside formal or historical texts.

Common words containing 蕤 include: 葳蕤 (wēi ruí) — luxuriant / flourishing; 蕤宾 (ruí bīn) — Ruibin (ancient musical note); 冠蕤 (guān ruí) — Ceremonial cap ornaments.