U+8438 "萸" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character
U+8438 "萸" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a Chinese character pronounced "yú" in Mandarin and is a common component in the written names of certain plants, most notably Cornus officinalis, known in Chinese medicine as shān zhū yú (Cornus fruit). In classical texts and traditional Chinese medicine, "萸" specifically refers to a medicinal herb with astringent properties used to nourish the kidneys and stabilize bodily fluids. The character is structurally classified under the radical for grass or plants (艹) and carries the phonetic component "臾" indicating sound, while its semantic field relates to herbaceous plants or shrubs valued for their fruit or fragrance. Though less common in everyday modern writing, "萸" remains culturally significant in contexts such as poetry, traditional medicine formulas like Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, and seasonal references to the Double Ninth Festival when people would wear zhū yú (dogwood) to ward off misfortune.