<p>Writing two crosses is the "canonical" type, which adheres to the origin of the radical. When you're in Taiwan or Hong Kong, this is the best choice.<br>
Writing it together as a laid-down two-barred cross is the only accepted writing in Simplified Chinese. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T08:41:49.070Z
2017-11-28T08:41:49.070Z
Winfred Huang
<p>The link given by @user6065 :<a href="http://bishun.shufaji.com/0x8279.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://bishun.shufaji.com/0x8279.html</a>   classifies the two small strokes as 丨shù .
These two strokes are very small and look more like small vertical dots 丶 diǎn.<br />
Then what is correct ? i would say the second...</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-15T14:32:16.603Z
2021-09-15T14:32:16.603Z
faure
<p>Rendering it as two separate crosses 十十 is kind of traditional writing. In modern writing, we write one horizontal line with two vertical lines crossing it. Some would write traditionally in the calligraphy. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T05:34:47.237Z
2017-11-28T05:34:47.237Z
dan
<p>Two notes:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>艹</strong> is 4 strokes in Taiwan and Hong Kong <strong>only</strong>. It is less helpful to think of it as a "traditional"/"simplified" difference, as among other standards which use "traditional characters" (e.g. Korean Hanja), it is also 3 strokes.</li>
<li><strong>歡</strong> <em>does not</em> strictly contain 艹; it is historically written with <strong>卝</strong>, commonly known as <strong>羊頭</strong>. In modern times, the distinction may be relaxed, and many fonts may display it with 艹. Please refer to <a href="https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-significance-of-the-%E5%8D%9D-component-in-traditional-Chinese-characters-as-in-%E8%8C%8D-distinct-from-the-%E8%89%B9-in-%E8%8B%9F/answers/59717808?srid=Qog4" rel="noreferrer">this</a> Quora answer detailing what kinds of characters contain 卝 rather than 艹.</li>
</ul>

<p>To "write things correctly", you need to understand what kind of regional Han character standard you're adhering to and look up the character in their official list. Otherwise, you should stick to the most recent common ancestor of all Han character standards, which is the Kangxi Dictionary standard.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T13:25:37.837Z
2017-11-28T13:25:37.837Z
dROOOze
<p>The 艹 (grass radical) is present in for example 歡　and 貓 and 喵</p>

<p>In some fonts it's rendered as two separate crosses 十十， in some as one horizontal line with two vertical lines crossing it.</p>

<p><strong>Can I always write the grass radical in either way, or are there certain characters/situations that demand either way of writing it to be correct?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T05:35:02.367Z
in formal writing, you should separate the two crosses, in casual hand written note, you can simplify it with three stokes
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T05:42:00.153Z
@TangHo, This could be regional, in mainland, some teachers would take it wrong.
dan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-28T06:55:13.290Z
3 strokes, see online dictionaries, e.g. http://bishun.shufaji.com/0x8336.html that draw each character stroke by stroke,
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-29T07:14:07.850Z
If you want to write it rightly, you must write two 屮-s, that is 艸.
xenophōn
<characters><writing><radicals><handwriting>
Can I always write the 艹 (grass radical) with three lines only?
# Can I always write the 艹 (grass radical) with three lines only?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-28)

The 艹 (grass radical) is present in for example 歡　and 貓 and 喵

In some fonts it's rendered as two separate crosses 十十， in some as one horizontal line with two vertical lines crossing it.

**Can I always write the grass radical in either way, or are there certain characters/situations that demand either way of writing it to be correct?**

**Tags:** characters, writing, radicals, handwriting

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: in formal writing, you should separate the two crosses, in casual hand written note, you can simplify it with three stokes  
> **username_2**: @username_1, This could be regional, in mainland, some teachers would take it wrong.  
> **username_3**: 3 strokes, see online dictionaries, e.g. http://bishun.shufaji.com/0x8336.html that draw each character stroke by stroke,  
> **username_4**: If you want to write it rightly, you must write two 屮-s, that is 艸.  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2017-11-28. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

Two notes:

* **艹** is 4 strokes in Taiwan and Hong Kong **only**. It is less helpful to think of it as a "traditional"/"simplified" difference, as among other standards which use "traditional characters" (e.g. Korean Hanja), it is also 3 strokes.
* **歡** *does not* strictly contain 艹; it is historically written with **卝**, commonly known as **羊頭**. In modern times, the distinction may be relaxed, and many fonts may display it with 艹. Please refer to [this](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-significance-of-the-%E5%8D%9D-component-in-traditional-Chinese-characters-as-in-%E8%8C%8D-distinct-from-the-%E8%89%B9-in-%E8%8B%9F/answers/59717808?srid=Qog4) Quora answer detailing what kinds of characters contain 卝 rather than 艹.

To "write things correctly", you need to understand what kind of regional Han character standard you're adhering to and look up the character in their official list. Otherwise, you should stick to the most recent common ancestor of all Han character standards, which is the Kangxi Dictionary standard.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-11-28. Score: 2

Writing two crosses is the "canonical" type, which adheres to the origin of the radical. When you're in Taiwan or Hong Kong, this is the best choice.  
Writing it together as a laid-down two-barred cross is the only accepted writing in Simplified Chinese.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2021-09-15. Score: 1

The link given by @username_3 :<http://bishun.shufaji.com/0x8279.html> classifies the two small strokes as 丨shù .
These two strokes are very small and look more like small vertical dots 丶 diǎn.  
Then what is correct ? i would say the second...


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### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-28. Score: 1

Rendering it as two separate crosses 十十 is kind of traditional writing. In modern writing, we write one horizontal line with two vertical lines crossing it. Some would write traditionally in the calligraphy.


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