How to Write 蔗 (zhè) — Meaning “Sugarcane”

Imagine a sugarcane field (艹) where there are "many" or "numerous" (庶) stalks of sugarcane. The top part 艹 is grass, and the bottom 庶 sounds like "zhe" — just remember that this sweet grass has many stalks.

Write the grass radical 艹 first (two horizontal strokes, then a vertical), then the lower part 庶: start with the 广 (dot, horizontal, left-falling), then do 廿 (two horizontal strokes crossing two verticals), and finally the four dots 灬 at the bottom. A common mistake is forgetting the four dots — without them you get a different character 遮 (zhē).

蔗 (sugarcane) has the grass radical 艹 with 庶 below, while 莿 (thorn) also has 艹 but adds 刂 (knife) on the right, meaning a thorny plant. 菐 (to serve) has 艹 on top and a completely different bottom 菐 that looks like 業 without the top, and it has no relation to plants.

蔗 appears mainly in words related to sugarcane, such as 甘蔗 (gān zhè, sugarcane), 蔗糖 (zhè táng, cane sugar), and 蔗汁 (zhè zhī, sugarcane juice). It is not a common standalone character but is essential when talking about sugar production or sugarcane-based drinks and foods in southern China.

Common words containing 蔗 include: 甘蔗 (gān zhè) — sugarcane; 蔗糖 (zhè táng) — Cane sugar; 蔗汁 (zhè zhī) — Sugarcane juice.