The character 蓼

It names a pungent plant, but context can make it mean “tall.” In Mandarin, the plant reading is liǎo, with a dipping-rising tone; the classical reading is lù, with a falling tone. In 蓼莪 and 蓼蓼, lù means “tall” or “large,” not another plant.

The Shuowen record, an early Chinese character dictionary, glosses 蓼 as a spicy vegetable and analyzes 艹 as its plant component and 翏 as its sound component. A bronze-script form is also recorded.

Why does 蓼 change reading?

The compound and language choose the reading. In Mandarin plant compounds such as 水蓼, use liǎo; in the classical 蓼莪, use lù. Japanese reads it たで (tade), its native Japanese reading, in plant and proverb contexts.

The 6th-century Qi Min Yao Shu, a Chinese farming manual, describes growing it, pickling young leaves, and preserving crab with a salted 蓼 infusion. Japanese references place tade in the 8th-century Man’yōshū, an early poetry collection. A 2nd–1st century BCE Chinese precursor links the biting-leaf image to hardship; the Japanese proverb 蓼食う虫も好き好き turns the plant into a comparison for differing tastes. 蓼蓝 names an indigo-dye plant.

What does a bare 蓼 mean in a message?

Check the surrounding words before assigning a reading. A bare 蓼 can point to a plant, a classical quotation, a historical name, or Japanese tade.