How to Write 耜 (sì) — Meaning “An ancient plow-like tool; plowshare”

Imagine a farmer using a plow (耒) to dig a straight furrow, and the right side 㠯 looks like a curved plowshare cutting through the soil. Think of the phrase "see (sì) the plow's sharp tip!" to link the sound sì with the tool. This visual of a plow with a curved blade can help you recall the character's form and meaning.

The left radical 耒 is written first with 7 strokes: start with a horizontal stroke, then the vertical hook, then a short left-falling stroke, followed by two horizontal strokes and a left-falling stroke. The right part 㠯 has 4 strokes: a horizontal fold, a horizontal stroke, a left-falling stroke, then a final vertical hook. A common mistake is to make the right side too narrow or to confuse its strokes with the similar component in 以 (yǐ).

While 耜 (sì) refers specifically to the plowshare or tip of an ancient plow, 耔 (zǐ) means to hoe or weed plants, and 耕 (gēng) means to plow the entire field. Visually, 耜 has the additional right component 㠯, whereas 耔 has 子 (zǐ) on the right, and 耕 has 井 (jǐng) on the right. In usage, 耜 is rarely used alone today, while 耕 is common in modern Chinese for farming.

Today, 耜 is almost exclusively used in historical or archaeological texts when discussing ancient farming tools, especially in the word 耒耜 (lěi sì), which refers to a pair of ancient plows. It also appears in classical Chinese idioms or descriptions of early agricultural civilization. Culturally, 耜 represents the ingenuity of early Chinese farmers, as the plowshare was a key invention that improved farming efficiency thousands of years ago.

Common words containing 耜 include: 耒耜 (lěi sì) — Ancient farm tools / Plough; 耜头 (sì tóu) — The tip of a plowshare; 犁耜 (lí sì) — plow and plowshare.