How to Write 荑 (tí) — Meaning “Young sprout of cogon grass”

Imagine a patch of grass (艹) with tiny sprouts growing around a "big bow" (夷, which looks like 大 and 弓 combined). The bright green sprouts are soft and tender, just like the meaning of 荑.

Write the grass radical 艹 first as two strokes (一丨) but in standard order it is horizontal, vertical, horizontal — keep it compact. Then write 夷 with 7 strokes: horizontal, horizontal fold, horizontal, left-falling, vertical hook, left-falling, right-falling. Do not make the top 艹 too wide, or the character will look unbalanced.

荑 has 夷 under the grass, while 兹 has two 丝 (silk) components under the grass, meaning 'this' or 'now'. 芈 has a bottom part like a sheep with a vertical line, used as a surname or in ancient words. Focus on the different lower parts: 夷, 丝, and the sheep-like shape.

荑 is a literary character rarely used in everyday speech. You will find it in classical idioms like 手如柔荑 (shǒu rú róu tí), describing elegant hands, or in poetry about early spring grasses. It may also appear in botanical names, but most modern Chinese speakers only know it from literature.

Common words containing 荑 include: 手如柔荑 (shǒu rú róu tí) — hands as soft as young sprouts (idiom for beautiful hands); 荑草 (tí cǎo) — Cogon grass; young grass; 柔荑 (róu tí) — soft, delicate hands (literary).