How to Write 糌 (zān) — Meaning “Tsampa”

Imagine a person (昝) mixing a bowl of rice (米) to make a sticky dough — this is how tsampa is prepared. You can also think of the right side 昝 looking like a person eating with a spoon, since tsampa is often eaten by hand. This visual helps link the components to the food's preparation.

Write the left radical 米 first (6 strokes), keeping it narrow so the right side fits. The right part 昝 has a top component similar to 夂 (3 strokes) and a bottom 日 (4 strokes); make sure the 日 is centered below the 夂. A common mistake is making the 米 too wide or forgetting the short downward stroke in the 夂 part.

粮 (liáng) means 'grain' or 'food' in general and is very common in words like 粮食 (food); 粱 (liáng) refers specifically to millet or sorghum. In contrast, 糌 is only used for the Tibetan food tsampa (糌粑), and its right part 昝 is unique. Visually, 粮 has 良 on the right, 粱 has 梁, and 糌 has 昝 — so they look different when you pay attention to the right side.

糌 is almost exclusively used in the compound word 糌粑 (zān bā), meaning tsampa, a Tibetan roasted barley flour eaten with butter tea. You will only encounter it in texts about Tibetan culture, cuisine, or travel to Tibet. It is not part of the HSK vocabulary and is rarely seen outside of these cultural contexts.

Common words containing 糌 include: 糌粑 (zān bā) — Tsampa (Tibetan roasted barley flour); 吃糌粑 (chī zān bā) — to eat tsampa; 做糌粑 (zuò zān bā) — to make tsampa (Tibetan barley flour food).