How to Write 穑 (sè) — Meaning “To harvest; to reap”

Picture a farmer (禾) carefully and frugally (啬) picking every last grain from the field during harvest. The right part 啬 looks like a person with a basket (mouth shape) saving grain, so remember: "The farmer saves every grain when he 穑s."

The left side 禾 is narrow and the right side 啬 is wider; keep the left vertical stroke straight. A common mistake is to make the right part too small—ensure the top 一 (cross) stretches across and the inner 口 (mouth) and 回 (return) are balanced, with the final stroke (the vertical hook) descending neatly below.

稨 (biǎn) means "narrow" or a type of bean, and is rarely used, while 稳 (wěn) means "stable" or "steady" and is very common. 穑 specifically refers to harvesting grain, using 禾 as radical, whereas 稳 uses 禾 but with 急 (urgent) on top—they share the grain radical but have completely different right-side components and meanings.

穑 is almost exclusively found in literary or classical Chinese, especially in the compound 稼穑 which means "sowing and reaping" as a pair. In ancient Chinese culture, 稼穑 represented the fundamental cycle of farming life, and the phrase appears in classic texts like the Book of Songs, emphasizing the virtue of hard agricultural work.

Common words containing 穑 include: 稼穑 (jià sè) — Farming; sowing and reaping; 穑事 (sè shì) — Farming; harvest work; 穑夫 (sè fū) — Farmer.