芦 (lú) is a Chinese character meaning “reed”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 户 (door; household), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “reed”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 户
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：3 笔艹 + 4 笔户 = 7 笔）
Memory aid
Grass (艹) growing over a door (户) — a wall of reeds so tall it screens the water like a doorway.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 芦苇lú wěireed (the tall water plant)芦 = lú
- 芦花lú huāreed catkin; the white plume on top of a reed芦 = lú
- 芦笙lú shēnglusheng, a reed-pipe wind instrument of the Miao, Dong and other peoples芦 = lú
Go deeper
All readings
reed
reed; rush (the tall hollow-stemmed plant that grows at the water's edge)
芦苇，生长在水边的高秆草本植物，秆中空。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 芦苇lú wěireed (the tall water plant)芦 = lú
- 芦花lú huāreed catkin; the white plume on top of a reed芦 = lú
- 芦笙lú shēnglusheng, a reed-pipe wind instrument of the Miao, Dong and other peoples芦 = lú
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 芦 mean?
芦 (lú) means reed; rush (the tall hollow-stemmed plant that grows at the water's edge).
How do you pronounce 芦?
It is pronounced lú.
What parts is 芦 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 户 (door; household), one above the other. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画：3 笔艹 + 4 笔户 = 7 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 芦 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 芦?
艹. 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 芦?
Common ones are 芦苇 and 芦花. The reading of 芦 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.