(): rush, reed, Phragmites communis

() is a Chinese character meaning “rush.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #2393 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, grass. Its radical form (grass) appears in many related characters such as (huā, flower), (chá, tea), (cài, vegetable, dish).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. rush
  2. reed
  3. Phragmites communis

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticgrass

Decomposition: ⿱艹户 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
hú lucalabash or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)
lú sǔnasparagus
lú wěireed
西xī hú luzucchini
zhào hú lu huà piáolit. to draw a dipper with a gourd as a model (idiom)
hú lú bāfenugreek
bīng táng hú lusugar-coated Chinese hawthorn or other fruit on a bamboo skewer
táng hú lusugar-coated Chinese hawthorn or other fruit on a bamboo skewer
hú lu lǐ mài de shì shén me yàowhat has (he) got up (his) sleeve?
lú sōng qūLusong, a district of Zhuzhou City 株洲市[Zhu1 zhou1 Shi4], Hunan
bǎo hú lu de mì mìSecret of the Magic Gourd (1958), prize-winning children's fairy tale by Zhang Tianyi 張天翼|张天翼[Zhang1 Tian1 yi4]
qǐ chóng hú luhoist pulley
qì dòng hú lupneumatic hoist pulley
diàn dòng hú luelectric chain pulley block
yī yàng huà hú lulit. to draw a gourd from the model (idiom)
49
Total compounds
47
As first character
33
As last character
20
As middle character

appears in 49 compound words: 47 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 20 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

yán
0.4781,446 co-occurrences
dǎo
0.4663,432 co-occurrences
dàng
0.462534 co-occurrences
gōu
0.449960 co-occurrences
0.4371,968 co-occurrences
0.431408 co-occurrences
cóng
0.420450 co-occurrences
chà
0.401144 co-occurrences
0.395222 co-occurrences
mēn
0.36942 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

bīngtáng húluHSK 7+

candied fruits on a bamboo skewer, especially Chinese hawthorn

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

字虽然难写,但意思很有趣。

lú zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

Though the character for "reed" is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.

中時新聞網Mar 2026

竹扫墓不塞车!3/21起周末交通管制 接...

lú zhú sǎo mù bù sāi chē ! 3 2 1 qǐ zhōu mò jiāo tōng guǎn zhì jiē . . .

No traffic jams during the Tomb-Sweeping Festival in Luzhu! Traffic restrictions will be in effect on weekends starting March 21...

LtnMar 2026

...lin Wulu系列推新作“双钻”构筑葫好运意象

. . . l i n W u l u xì liè tuī xīn zuò shuāng zuān gòu zhù 葫 lú hǎo yùn yì xiàng

...Lin Wulu launches a new piece in its series, "Double Diamonds," evoking the image of good fortune symbolized by the gourd

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

消防车出勤途中被撞翻!桃园竹7人送医 疑直行车未礼让酿祸

xiāo fáng chē chū qín tú zhōng bèi zhuàng fān ! táo yuán lú zhú 7 rén sòng yī yí zhí háng chē wèi lǐ ràng niàng huò

The fire truck was knocked over on the way to work! 7 people in Taoyuan Luzhu were sent to the hospital, suspected of driving straight without yielding, causing trouble

TechnewsFeb 2026

荟的天然成分,可能有助对抗阿兹海默症?

lú 荟 de tiān rán chéng fēn , kě néng yǒu zhù duì kàng ā zī hǎi mò zhèng ?

Aloe vera's natural ingredients may help fight Alzheimer's disease?

中時新聞網Feb 2026

女儿想吃290元糖葫 妈妈1决定万人赞:高级大人

nǚ ér xiǎng chī 2 9 0 yuán táng 葫 lú mā mā 1 jué dìng wàn rén zàn : gāo jí dà rén

Daughter wants to eat 290 yuan candied haws Mom 1 decided to praise 10,000 people: senior adults

Tatoeba

他葫里不知卖的是什么药?

Tā húlu lǐ bù zhī mài de shì shénme yào?

I wonder what he's up to.

Tatoeba

汤姆吃笋,但是他弟弟不吃。

Tāngmǔ chī lúsǔn, dànshì tā dìdi bù chī.

Tom eats asparagus, but his brother doesn't.

Tatoeba

姐姐在市场买了一点茄子、土豆、西葫和大白菜。

Jiějie zài shìchǎng mǎi le yīdiǎn qiézi, tǔdòu, xīhúlu hé dàbáicài.

Our sister bought some eggplants, potatoes, zucchinis and Chinese cabbage at the market.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 芦 (lú) mean in Chinese?
芦 (lú) primarily means "rush." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2393 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 芦 and 妒?
芦 (lú) and 妒 (dù) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 艹 vs 女 (same 户 component).
How many strokes does 芦 have?
芦 is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 芦?
The radical associated with 芦 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 芦?
芦 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 户 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹户 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 芦?
Common words with 芦 include: 葫芦 (hú lu, "calabash or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)"); 芦笋 (lú sǔn, "asparagus"); 芦苇 (lú wěi, "reed"); 西葫芦 (xī hú lu, "zucchini"); 照葫芦画瓢 (zhào hú lu huà piáo, "lit. to draw a dipper with a gourd as a model (idiom)"). There are over 49 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 芦 (lú)?
Several characters share the pronunciation lú: 炉 (stove), 陆 (six (banker's anti-fraud numeral)), 录 (to carve wood), 路 (road), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 芦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 芦 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.