How to Write 茱 (zhū) — Meaning “dogwood”

Imagine a dogwood plant (艹) with bright red berries (朱, which means red). This visual of red berries on a leafy plant helps you link the shape to its meaning of 'dogwood'.

Write the top radical 艹 first as two horizontal strokes followed by a vertical. Then write the bottom part 朱: a short horizontal, a long vertical, two horizontal strokes, and a right-falling stroke on the lower right. A common mistake is making the lower 朱 too wide or confusing the last stroke direction.

茱 has the component 朱 (red) under the grass radical, while 兹 has 玄 (mysterious) and 芈 has 㐄 (a hand-like shape) under the grass radical. Visually, the bottom parts are completely different, and their meanings (dogwood vs. 'this' or a sheep sound) are unrelated.

茱 appears almost exclusively in the word 茱萸 (zhū yú), meaning cornelian cherry. During the Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang Festival), people traditionally wear 茱萸 branches to ward off evil spirits, and it is also used in place names like 茱萸峰.

Common words containing 茱 include: 茱萸 (zhū yú) — cornelian cherry; 茱萸峰 (zhū yú fēng) — Zhuyu Peak; 茱萸肉 (zhū yú ròu) — cornelian cherry pulp.