Fodder character

It means grass cut for livestock. Shang inscriptions on divination bones are its earliest known forms; later forms appear on bronzes, Chu and Qin writing slips, and in seal script. The early Chinese dictionary 說文解字 explains the character as bundled grass.

It also named straw figures used at funerals and grass-eating livestock. In 芻蕘, grass-cutters and woodcutters stand for common people; 芻議 and 芻言 modestly label the writer's own opinion.