萍 píng duckweed
How to remember 萍: 艹 grass + 氵 water + 平 level = duckweed. Grandpa points at the tiny green grass covering the water, lying so level that the ducklings try to walk on it, and says "That is duckweed."
Component breakdown
萍 = 艹 grass + 泙
- 艹 grass
- 泙
- 氵 water
- 平 level
- 干 do
- 丷 horns
Grandpa points at the tiny green grass covering the water, lying so level that the ducklings try to walk on it, and says "That is duckweed."
How it is used
- Means 'duckweed', a rootless plant drifting on water - used almost only in 萍水相逢 (píngshuǐ-xiāngféng), of strangers meeting by chance like duckweed converging on water.
- The image is of a fleeting, rootless encounter; the character carries that connotation of drifting and impermanence.