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snow

xuě
11 strokes · 雨 (rain radical) + 彐 (a broom hand) — rain you can sweep · HSK 1

Where 雪 comes from

雪 is rain 雨 over a hand holding a broom 彐 — the rain that piles up and must be swept. The character contains its own chore: snow defined by what you do the morning after.

雪 in Chinese culture

雪 is winter's poetry: 下雪 (it's snowing — with 下, the same verb as rain), 雪人 (snowman), 雪白 (snow-white). Classical poets measured solitude in 雪 — Liu Zongyuan's lone fisherman 'in cold river snow' is every Chinese schoolchild's memorized image. And 雪中送炭 ('sending charcoal in the snow') is the highest praise for timely help — kindness when it actually counts.

Example

下雪 xiàxuě — to snow

北京冬天常常下雪。
Běijīng dōngtiān chángcháng xiàxuě.
It often snows in Beijing in winter.

How to remember it

Rain 雨 that needs a broom 彐 — SNOW.

雪中送炭 'charcoal in the snow' — helping when it matters — is the opposite of 锦上添花, 'flowers on brocade' (help nobody needs).

Same sound, different tones

1st xuē
boot
2nd xué
to study
3rd xuě
snow

Words unlocked by 雪

下雪 xiàxuě
to snow
雪人 xuěrén
snowman
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One character a morning · 169-character HSK library · iOS