How to Write 种 (zhǒng/zhòng) — Meaning “Seed; species; to plant.”

Imagine a grain of rice (禾) placed right in the middle (中) of a field — that is a seed waiting to grow. This picture helps you remember both the shape and the meaning. The left side is the grain radical, and the right side looks like a box with a line through the center.

When writing the left radical 禾, be sure to change its last stroke from 捺 (diagonal downward) to 点 (dot) because it is used as a left component. The right part 中 has a vertical stroke that should align well with the center of the left part. A common mistake is keeping the 捺, which makes the character unbalanced.

种 has 禾 on the left and 中 on the right, meaning 'seed' or 'to plant'. 秀 has 禾 on top and 乃 below, meaning 'elegant' or 'beautiful'. 私 also has 禾 on the left but has ム (a slanted hook shape) on the right, meaning 'private' or 'selfish'. The key difference is the right-side component's shape and position.

种 is very common in daily life, used both as a noun meaning 'seed' or 'type' (e.g., 种子 for seed, 种类 for category) and as a verb meaning 'to plant' (e.g., 种植). It appears in agriculture, biology, and classification contexts. A cultural note is the proverb 种瓜得瓜, which means 'you reap what you sow' — a lesson about consequences.

Common words containing 种 include: 种子 (zhǒng zi) — Seed.; 种类 (zhǒng lèi) — Kind; category; type.; 种植 (zhòng zhí) — To plant; to cultivate..