How to Write 育 (yù) — Meaning “to raise; to educate; to give birth”

Picture the top 亠 as a mother's head, the middle 月 as her body, and the bottom 冫 as a drop of milk or a cradle. This image helps you recall that 育 means to raise, educate, or give birth.

Start with a dot and a horizontal line for the top. Then write 月: a left stroke, a horizontal hook, and two inner horizontals. Finally, add a dot and a short left-falling stroke at the bottom. A common mistake is making the bottom part too large or forgetting the dot.

育 has a top 亠 and bottom 冫, while 有 (yǒu) has 月 on top and 又 below, and 朊 (ruǎn) has 月 on the left and 元 on the right. Visually, 育 is stacked vertically, not split left-right, and its meaning relates to nurturing, not having or protein.

育 appears in common words like 教育 (education), 体育 (sports), and 育儿 (parenting). In Chinese culture, 教育 is highly valued as the key to success, and 育 also appears in terms like 生育 (giving birth) and 德育 (moral education), showing its importance in both family and school life.

Common words containing 育 include: 教育 (jiào yù) — education; 体育 (tǐ yù) — sports; physical education; 育儿 (yù ér) — parenting; childcare.