篱 (lí): fence

Meanings

1 fence
2 hedge
3 railing

Characters

篱

lí

fence, hedge

Examples

HSK 6

木篱上爬满了牵牛花。

Mù lí shàng pá mǎn le qiānniúhuā.

The wooden fence is covered with morning glories.

HSK 7-9

采菊东篱下，悠然见南山。

Cǎi jú dōng lí xià, yōurán jiàn Nánshān.

Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I gaze serenely at South Mountain.

HSK 7-9

院子四周围了一道竹篱。

Yuànzi sìzhōu wéi le yī dào zhú lí.

A bamboo fence surrounds the courtyard on all sides.

Tips

culture

The phrase 东篱 (eastern fence) is immortalized in a famous poem by Tao Yuanming 陶渊明 (365-427 AD): 采菊东篱下，悠然见南山 - 'Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I gaze serenely at South Mountain.' It has become a symbol of rustic contentment.

Components

radical

⺮ zhú

bamboo (top radical form of 竹)

Top ⺮ is the bamboo-cap radical - the 6-stroke compressed form of 竹, two leaning leaves over short stems. Indexes 篱 with the bamboo / woven-stick family (笔 brush, 笼 cage, 筐 basket, 筷 chopsticks). A fence in old China was built of split bamboo lashed together, hence the radical at the top.

phonetic

离 lí

leave; separate

Bottom 离 supplies the sound - lí straight through, no drift. The 'separate' meaning of 离 carries a faint semantic flavour: a fence is what separates one yard from the next, the boundary between in and out. 篱笆 is the standard word for a wattle fence; 樊篱 metaphorically a barrier or restraint.