Han character 薋

It names dense grass or a plant in older texts. The Eastern Han, an early Chinese dynasty, dictionary 《說文解字》 glosses 薋 as abundant grass. Its analysis treats 艹 as the plant-related meaning part and 資 as the part suggesting the sound. Later dictionaries also list a water plant and 白及, an herb, so these glosses do not point to one certain species.

The history of 薋 includes this early dictionary record and later botanical glosses. The transmitted 《離騷》 tradition also associates the plant word with forms such as 茨 and 薺. These are related written forms in older texts, not automatic replacements in every quotation.

When does 薋 carry a negative meaning?

In 《離騷》, it belongs to a cluster of “bad weeds.” The transmitted Li Sao, a classical Chinese poem, uses the line 薋菉葹以盈室兮, pairing 薋 with 菉 and 葹. In this passage, the unwanted plants stand for petty or corrupt people crowding the court. This is a literary reading, not a fixed meaning for every appearance of 薋.

A quotation from 《離騷》 points to the literary reading; elsewhere, a dictionary may be recording one of the plant senses. If 薋 arrives alone, the surrounding text matters. 薋縣 is a separate Han-era place-name use.