穑 (sè): to harvest; to gather in grain

Meanings

1 to harvest; to gather in grain
2 farming; husbandry

Characters

穑

sè

to harvest; to reap

Examples

种之曰稼，敛之曰穑。

Zhòng zhī yuē jià, liǎn zhī yuē sè.

Sowing is called jia, gathering in the harvest is called se.

不稼不穑，哪来粮食？

Bù jià bù sè, nǎ lái liángshí?

If you neither sow nor reap, how can you have grain?

Tips

usage

穑 is the reaping half of 稼穑 (sowing and reaping), a classical word for farm work as a whole. It is literary; modern Chinese uses 收获 for harvesting.

Components

radical

禾 hé

grain; cereal plant

Left is the grain radical 禾, a ripe stalk bending under its head. It firmly ties the character to cereal crops — here the act of gathering them in.

phonetic

啬 sè

sparing; to store up (phonetic and meaning)

Right is 啬, which gives the sound sè and is not just phonetic: it pictures grain being stored away in a granary, exactly the careful gathering-in that 穑 names.

Stroke Order

穑 sè

Related Words

收获 shōuhuò HSK 4 #4,435

to harvest / harvest / gains; rewards

采集 cǎijí HSK 7-9 #7,482

to gather / to collect / to harvest

大丰收 dàfēngshōu

bumper harvest / great harvest / (figurative) big success; rich haul

搂 lōu #9,299

to draw toward oneself; to gather up; to rake in / to gather up (one's gown or sleeves) / to grab (money); to extort

收集 shōují HSK 5 #2,590

to gather; to collect / to compile

聚集 jùjí HSK 7-9 #4,956

to gather / to assemble / to congregate

谷 gǔ #3,952

valley / grain / corn

集合 jíhé HSK 4 #3,792

to gather / to assemble / set (in mathematics)

凑 còu HSK 7-9 #5,498

to gather together / to collect / to piece together / to move close to

采访 cǎifǎng HSK 4 #2,799

to interview; to gather news / interview (news)