zī

菑

Character · Noun · Verb

newly cultivated field; to weed

Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma

Meanings

2 senses · 4 examples
1.

noun

newly cultivated field; virgin soil (ancient term)

archaic

Refers to fields in their first year of cultivation. Often appears in classical texts such as the Book of Songs (Shijing), contrasting with 畬 (yú, fields in the second or third year).

Tián田
yī一
suì岁
yuē曰
zī菑
 ，
èr二
suì岁
yuē曰
xīn新
tián田
 ，
sān三
suì岁
yú曰
yú畬
 。

A field of one year is called zī, of two years is called new field, and of three years is called yú.

Zī菑
mǔ亩
zhī之
jiān间
 ，
cǎo草
mù木
bù不
kě可
shèng胜
shǔ数
 。

Between the newly cultivated fields, the grass and trees were innumerable.

2.

verb

to weed; to remove grass (literary)

literary

Literary usage found in pre-Qin texts, synonymous with 薅 or 耘.

Yǐ以
hāo薅
tú荼
liǎo蓼
 ，
tú荼
liǎo蓼
xiǔ朽
zhǐ止
 。

Weeding out the bitter smartweed, until the smartweed rots away.

Nóng农
fū夫
zī菑
cǎo草
wù务
jìn尽
 ，
bù不
gǎn敢
dài怠
yě也
 。

The farmer weeded the grass thoroughly, not daring to be idle.