Mugwort leaves are hung during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Tips
culture
艾 (mugwort) is central to traditional Chinese medicine. 艾灸 (moxibustion) involves burning dried mugwort near the skin. Mugwort is also hung on doors during the Dragon Boat Festival to ward off evil.
usage
As a surname, 艾 is pronounced Ài. It is also used as a transliteration character in names like 艾滋病 (AIDS, àizībìng).
Top grass radical (the 3-stroke compressed form of 草) - the indexing radical, marking 艾 as a plant. Mugwort is a medicinal herb, so the grass top fits both botanically and pharmacologically. Same family: 花 (flower), 茶 (tea), 药 (medicine).
Bottom 乂 originally pictured crossed scything strokes meaning 'to mow.' Doubles as the phonetic - yì drifted to ài in early Chinese readings. Bonus semantic fit: mugwort is harvested by cutting. Today the sound link is opaque to learners; treat the role as phonetic with a faint semantic echo.
