How to Write 莶 (xiān) — Meaning “Siegesbeckia (a medicinal herb)”

Imagine a grassy plant (艹) that looks like a set of wooden clamps (佥) holding herbs together for medicine. Picture a herb called Siegesbeckia being clamped by its leaves. This visual trick links the grass radical and the clamp-like shape to the medicinal herb meaning.

Write the grass radical (艹) first as three strokes: horizontal, vertical, vertical. Then write the lower part 佥 starting with the top person radical (人) and then three horizontal strokes and a dot. A common mistake is making the lower part too wide — keep it narrow under the grass.

While 兹 (zī) means 'now' or 'this' and 苑 (yuàn) means 'garden' or 'park', 莶 (xiān) specifically refers to a medicinal herb called Siegesbeckia. Visually, 莶 has grass on top and a more complex lower part, whereas 兹 has two 玄 stacked and 苑 has grass over 夗.

莶 is rarely used alone in modern daily language and appears mainly in traditional Chinese medicine texts, such as in the herb name 豨莶 (xī xiān) — Siegesbeckia. This herb is historically used to treat rheumatism and joint pain, though it is not commonly known to most Chinese speakers.

Common words containing 莶 include: 豨莶 (xī xiān) — Siegesbeckia (medicinal herb); 莶草 (xiān cǎo) — Siegesbeckia herb; 莶药 (xiān yào) — Siegesbeckia medicine.