蓼蓝

蓼藍

liǎolán

noun

Meanings

HSK 6

他们在院子里种了一些蓼蓝，用来染布。

Tāmen zài yuànzi lǐ zhòng le yìxiē liǎolán, yònglái rǎn bù.

They planted some dyer's knotweed in the yard to dye cloth with.

HSK 7-9

把蓼蓝的叶子泡在水里发酵，就能得到靛蓝。

Bǎ liǎolán de yèzi pào zài shuǐ lǐ fājiào, jiù néng dédào diànlán.

Soak the leaves of dyer's knotweed in water and let them ferment, and you get indigo.

culture

In old texts the plant was simply 蓝. Xunzi's 青出于蓝, 'blue comes from indigo yet is bluer than it', is about the dye made from it.

蓼 liǎo

蓝 lán