How to Write 饴 (yí) — Meaning “maltose; syrup; candy”

Think of a platform (台) made of sweet, sticky candy (represented by the food radical 饣). Imagine standing on a platform licking delicious maltose syrup—this links the shape to the meaning of candy or maltose.

Write the left radical 饣 first (three strokes:撇,横撇/横钩,竖提), then the right part 台 (five strokes:撇折,点,竖,横折,横). A common mistake is forgetting the vertical stroke in 台 before the horizontal fold, or writing the bottom horizontal stroke too long—it should be balanced under the upper part.

饴 has the right component 台, while 饧 (xíng) has 行 on the right and means malt sugar or syrup, and 饨 (tún) has 屯 on the right and means stuffed dumpling skin. Visually, 饴's right side looks like a platform with a mouth-like shape, unlike the other two.

饴 appears in the word 饴糖 (malt sugar), a traditional Chinese sweetener. The idiom 甘之如饴 describes willingly enduring hardship as if it were sweet, showing 饴's cultural association with sweetness and acceptance. However, 饴 is not commonly used in daily conversation and is mostly found in classical literature or food ingredient labels.

Common words containing 饴 include: 饴糖 (yí táng) — maltose; malt sugar; 甘之如饴 (gān zhī rú yí) — to endure hardship willingly; to enjoy something bitter as if it were sweet; 饴盐 (yí yán) — rock salt; maltose-flavored salt.