How to Write 苎 (zhù) — Meaning “Ramie”

Picture a ramie plant with two leaves on top (艹) and a small stool (宁) underneath, where you sit to weave the fibers into cloth. The stool shape of 宁 helps you recall the character's pronunciation zhù, similar to the word 'zoo' but with a 'zh' sound.

Start with the grass radical 艹: write a horizontal stroke, then two vertical strokes. Then write 宁: a dot, a horizontal hook, a horizontal stroke, and a final vertical hook curving left. A common mistake is making the bottom part too tall or forgetting the dot on top of 宁. Keep the grass radical slightly wider than the lower part.

苎 has a bottom part 宁 (a dot over a hook shape), while 兹 has 丝 (two silk threads) and 艻 has 力 (power). Their meanings are also different: 苎 means ramie plant, 兹 means 'this' or 'now', and 艻 is a rare word for a type of grass. Visually, remember 苎’s dot on top of the bottom component.

苎 appears mainly in words like 苎麻 (ramie plant) and 苎布 (ramie cloth). Ramie has been used in China for thousands of years to make strong, breathable fabric. It also shows up in the place name 苎萝 (Zhuluo), which is historically linked to the ancient beauty Xi Shi.

Common words containing 苎 include: 苎麻 (zhù má) — Ramie (plant); 苎布 (zhù bù) — Ramie cloth; 苎萝 (zhù luó) — Zhuluo (a place name).