耕 (gēng) is a Chinese character meaning “to plough”. It is written from 耒 (plough (ancient wooden plough)) and 井 (well), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to plough”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
耒 + 井
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：耕，犁也。从耒，井声。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（耒6 + 井4 = 10 笔）
Memory aid
耒 on the left is an old wooden plough. 井 on the right looks like a grid of fields. Drag the plough through the field grid and you are tilling the land: 耕.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 耕地gēng dìfarmland; to plough the land耕 = gēng
- 耕种gēng zhòngto till and plant; to farm耕 = gēng
- 耕耘gēng yúnto plough and weed; to cultivate; to work hard at something耕 = gēng
Go deeper
All readings
to plough
to plough; to till; to cultivate (land)
用犁翻松土地，也泛指从事农业劳动。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 耕地gēng dìfarmland; to plough the land耕 = gēng
- 耕种gēng zhòngto till and plant; to farm耕 = gēng
- 耕耘gēng yúnto plough and weed; to cultivate; to work hard at something耕 = gēng
Sound component
井 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 耕 mean?
耕 (gēng) means to plough; to till; to cultivate (land).
How do you pronounce 耕?
It is pronounced gēng.
What parts is 耕 made of?
耒 (plough (ancient wooden plough)) and 井 (well), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：耕，犁也。从耒，井声。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（耒6 + 井4 = 10 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 耕 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 耕?
耒. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 耕?
Common ones are 耕地 and 耕种. The reading of 耕 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.