How to Write 稙 (zhī) — Meaning “early-planted crops”

Imagine planting rice seeds in a straight line (直) in a field of grain (禾) to get an early harvest. The straight line reminds you of the sound zhí, and the early planting connects to the meaning of 'early-planted crops'.

Write the left radical 禾 with the top stroke as a short left-falling stroke, then a horizontal, then vertical, then left-falling, and finally a dot. The right part 直 has four horizontal strokes of similar length, and the bottom horizontal should be slightly longer to balance the character.

稙 specifically means 'early-planted crops', while 秸 (jiē) refers to straw or stalks of grain, and 移 (yí) means 'to move' or 'shift'. Visually, 稙 has the phonetic 直 on the right, whereas 秸 has 吉 (jí) and 移 has 多 (duō) on the right side.

稙 is a rare character not part of the HSK vocabulary. It appears mainly in agricultural texts or regional dialects to describe crops planted earlier than normal, such as 稙禾 (early-planted rice). You are unlikely to encounter it in everyday conversation, but it may come up in discussions of traditional farming practices.

Common words containing 稙 include: 稙禾 (zhī hé) — early-planted rice; 稙谷 (zhī gǔ) — early-planted millet; 稙庄稼 (zhī zhuāng jià) — to plant crops early.