How to Write 芟 (shān) — Meaning “To mow / To cut down grass”

Picture a farmer holding a scythe (殳) swinging it through a field of tall grass (艹). The character 芟 visually combines the grass on top and the cutting tool below, making it easy to recall as "mowing grass."

The bottom part 殳 has a unique stroke order: first a left-falling stroke (丿), then a horizontal fold fold stroke (横折折), then a horizontal fold (横撇), and finally a right-falling stroke (捺). A common mistake is confusing the second stroke with a hook shape — it should have two clear folds, not a hook.

芟 (shān) has the radical 艹 plus 殳, meaning to cut grass. 兹 (zī) also has 艹 on top but the bottom is 玄 (mysterious) — it means "now" or "this" and has no cutting meaning. 艻 (lè) has 艹 plus 力 (strength) and refers to a type of grass or a spike, not an action.

芟 is a literary or formal character, not common in everyday conversation. It appears in words like 芟除 (shān chú, to weed out or eliminate) and 芟草 (shān cǎo, to mow grass), often in agricultural or classical texts. Modern Chinese usually uses simpler words like 割 (gē) or 除去 (chúqù) instead.

Common words containing 芟 include: 芟除 (shān chú) — To weed out / To eliminate; 芟草 (shān cǎo) — To mow grass / To weed; 芟刈 (shān yì) — To mow / To reap.