How to Write 蓑 (suō) — Meaning “straw raincoat”

Imagine a straw coat (蓑) that is made of grass (艹) and looks like a worn-out, sagging blanket — the lower part 衰 can remind you of something "decaying" or hanging down. Picture a farmer wearing a grassy coat that droops over their shoulders in the rain.

Write the top radical 艹 first (horizontal, vertical, vertical, horizontal), then the bottom part 衰: start with 亠 (dot, horizontal), then 口 (vertical, horizontal fold, horizontal), then the left and right strokes of 衣 (left stroke, right stroke, left dot, right dot). A common mistake is making the bottom part too wide or forgetting the two small dots inside the 衣 component.

蓑 (suō) means straw raincoat and has the 衰 component inside. 莿 (cì) means thorn or splinter and has 刺 (thorn) as its lower part. 菀 (wǎn or yù) refers to a type of plant or lush growth and has 宛 (wǎn) below. Focus on the different lower parts: 衰 vs. 刺 vs. 宛.

蓑 is rarely used alone in daily conversation but appears in literary or historical contexts, especially in the word 蓑衣 (straw raincoat). It evokes traditional Chinese farming culture and classic poetry, such as the famous poetic image 烟蓑 (a straw raincoat in the mist), symbolizing a simple, rustic life close to nature.

Common words containing 蓑 include: 蓑衣 (suō yī) — straw raincoat; 蓑笠 (suō lì) — straw raincoat and bamboo hat; 烟蓑 (yān suō) — straw raincoat in the mist (poetic image).