How to Write 秫 (shú) — Meaning “glutinous millet”

Imagine a farmer using a special technique (术) to harvest sticky millet (禾) for making sweet wine. The picture of the farmer's "shú" method helps link the pronunciation and meaning. Another trick: think of "shú" as "shoe" — you can make glue from glutinous millet to stick your shoe sole.

The left radical 禾 should be narrow, with the horizontal stroke slightly rising, and the right part 术 must be balanced. A common mistake is making the right component too wide or misplacing the dot in 术 (it goes above the vertical stroke). Keep the overall shape compact, with the 禾's last stroke turning into a dot to avoid collision.

秫 (shú) specifically means glutinous millet, a type of grain, while 秆 (gǎn) refers to the stalk or stem of plants like rice or wheat. 秉 (bǐng) means to hold or grasp, often used in abstract senses like "upholding" principles, and is not a grain. Visually, 秫 has 术 on the right, 秆 has 干, and 秉 has a different right component (禾 + a hand shape).

秫 is not common in everyday conversation but appears in agricultural, culinary, and historical contexts. It is used to describe glutinous millet grains (秫米) for making porridge, wine (秫酒), or animal feed, and its stalks (秫秸) are used for weaving or fuel. In northern China, 秫米 is still sometimes used in traditional dishes and brewing.

Common words containing 秫 include: 秫米 (shú mǐ) — glutinous millet grain; 秫秸 (shú jiē) — millet stalk; 秫酒 (shú jiǔ) — millet wine.