禾 (hé): standing grain; cereal plant (e…

Meanings

1 standing grain; cereal plant (especially rice in classical usage)
2 grain still on the stalk before harvest

Characters

禾

hé

standing grain

Examples

HSK 6

锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。

Chú hé rì dāng wǔ, hàn dī hé xià tǔ.

Hoeing the grain at high noon, sweat drips onto the earth below the stalks.

HSK 7-9

秋天禾穗金黄。

Qiūtiān hé suì jīnhuáng.

In autumn the heads of grain turn golden.

Tips

culture

禾 is best known from the Tang poem 《悯农》 by Li Shen - 'Hoeing the grain at high noon...' is one of the first poems Chinese children memorise. In modern Chinese, 禾 is mostly a literary or radical character; everyday speech uses 稻 (rice plant) or 谷 (cereals).

history

Pictograph of a grain stalk with the head bent over from the weight of ripe ears. As a radical, 禾 reliably signals cereal-related meanings: 秋 (autumn), 稻 (rice), 种 (seed / plant), 秒 (second, originally a grain awn), 税 (tax, originally paid in grain).

Components

pictograph

禾 hé

growing grain; cereal plant

Pictograph of a stalk of grain - the drooping ripe head at the top (slanted stroke), the stem, leaves spreading sideways, roots below. One of the most productive Kangxi radicals (#115), heading the cereal-crop family: 秋 autumn, 种 to plant, 稻 rice-plant, 秀 fine-grain, 私 private (a grain hoard), 香 fragrant, 季 harvest-season.

Radical

Grain Kangxi #115

Highly productive radical for cereal crops, harvesting, and (by metonymy) measuring time and goods that were once paid in grain. Strong meaning clue: 秋, 种, 稻, 秒, 秤, 税, 私, 秘, 移, 秩, 程, 稳 all carry it on the left. One of the most reliable agricultural radicals.