How to Write 苑 (yuàn) — Meaning “garden / park”

Picture a garden (艹) where you can see a sunset (夗 looks like a person watching the sun go down). Imagine the grass growing in a beautiful park as you relax at dusk. This visual scene connects the top grass radical to the park meaning.

Write the grass radical 艹 first with three strokes: horizontal, vertical, and left-falling. Then write the lower part 夗 starting with the left-falling stroke, ensuring the overall shape is balanced and not too tall. Common mistake is making the bottom part too narrow or misplacing the final hook.

苑 (yuàn) means garden or park, with grass radical and phonetic 夗. 兹 (zī) means 'this' or 'now' and has a different lower part (玄), not related to gardens. 艻 (lè) is a rare character for a type of grass, with radical 艹 and 力 as phonetic, but it does not mean park.

苑 appears in words like 学苑 (academy) and 艺苑 (art circles), indicating a place of learning or artistic gathering. It also appears in names of residential districts or parks, such as 苑区 (garden area). Culturally, 苑 evokes a refined, scholarly or elegant atmosphere.

Common words containing 苑 include: 学苑 (xué yuàn) — Academy.; 艺苑 (yì yuàn) — art world; art circles; 苑区 (yuàn qū) — garden area / residential district.