How to Write 籼 (xiān) — Meaning “Indica rice (long-grain rice)”

Imagine a mountain (山) made of rice grains (米) — that is Indica rice growing on hillsides. The tall, long grains resemble the shape of a mountain peak, so 籼 = rice on a mountain.

Write the left radical 米 (rice) first: dot, dot, horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling — then the right part 山 (mountain): vertical, mountain-left, mountain-right. A common mistake is making the 山 too wide or forgetting that 米 has a short vertical stroke ending at the cross, not extending below.

籼 (xiān) specifically means Indica rice, with 米 + 山. 籽 (zǐ) means seed or grain, with 米 + 子 (child), and is used in words like 菜籽 (vegetable seed). 粉 (fěn) means powder or flour, with 米 + 分 (divide), and appears in 米粉 (rice noodles) or 面粉 (wheat flour). The key is the right component: mountain, child, or divide.

籼 is used mainly in agriculture and cooking to differentiate Indica rice (长粒米) from Japonica rice (粳米). It appears in terms like 籼米 (the grain) and 籼稻 (the plant). Culturally, Indica rice is the staple for many southern Chinese dishes like fried rice and rice noodles, and it is more drought-resistant than other varieties.

Common words containing 籼 include: 籼米 (xiān mǐ) — Indica rice (the grain); 籼稻 (xiān dào) — Indica rice (the plant); 长籼 (zhǎng xiān) — Long-grain indica rice.