荇菜

xìngcài
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 yellow floating heart
  2. 2 floating heart (Nymphoides peltata)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Chítáng lǐ zhǎngmǎn le kāi zhe huángsè xiǎo huā de xìngcài.
The pond is full of floating heart with little yellow flowers.
HSK 7-9
《 Shījīng 》 de dìyī shǒu shī jiù xiědào le xìngcài.
The very first poem of the Book of Songs already mentions floating heart.

Tips

culture
Known from 关雎, the first poem of the 诗经: 参差荇菜,左右流之, 'uneven grows the floating heart, left and right we gather it'. Gathering the water plant goes with a young man's longing for a girl, and it became a classic image of courtship.

Stroke Order

荇 xìng
菜 cài