萍 (píng) is a Chinese character meaning “duckweed”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 泙 (water (氵) + level (平); in 萍 it gives the sound píng), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “duckweed”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 泙
Top–bottom structure
- 艹 grass / plant radical · cǎo meaning
- 泙 water (氵) + level (平); in 萍 it gives the sound píng · píng sound
Structure from: 现代字形 ⿱艹泙（笔画核验 艹3 + 泙8 = 11）；说文解字·水部：萍，苹也。水艸也。从水苹，苹亦聲（说文按 水+苹 分析，本表按现代字形取 艹+泙，声旁同出 平）
Memory aid
Grass (艹) resting on 泙 (píng) — flat, still water. That is 萍: duckweed floating on a quiet pond.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 浮萍fú píngduckweed萍 = píng
- 萍水相逢píng shuǐ xiāng féngto meet by chance, like duckweed drifting together on water萍 = píng
Go deeper
All readings
duckweed
duckweed; small floating water plants; (figuratively) drifting, rootless
浮萍，一种浮在水面上的小草本植物；常比喻漂泊不定。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 浮萍fú píngduckweed萍 = píng
- 萍水相逢píng shuǐ xiāng féngto meet by chance, like duckweed drifting together on water萍 = píng
Sound component
平 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 萍 mean?
萍 (píng) means duckweed; small floating water plants; (figuratively) drifting, rootless.
How do you pronounce 萍?
It is pronounced píng.
What parts is 萍 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 泙 (water (氵) + level (平); in 萍 it gives the sound píng), one above the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形 ⿱艹泙（笔画核验 艹3 + 泙8 = 11）；说文解字·水部：萍，苹也。水艸也。从水苹，苹亦聲（说文按 水+苹 分析，本表按现代字形取 艹+泙，声旁同出 平）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 萍 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 萍?
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 萍?
Common ones are 浮萍 and 萍水相逢. The reading of 萍 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.