瓮棺葬
wèng​guān​zàng

urn burial

瓮 wèng earthen jar Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 瓦 represents the meaning and 公 represents the sound. Originally written as 公.

Components

瓦
瓦 Meaning component
wǎ earthenware
公
公 Sound component
gōng public

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'uwngHqˤoŋ-s earthen jar

說文解字

《說文》：“瓮，罌也。从瓦，公聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

棺 guān coffin

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 官 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
官
官 Sound component
guān official

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwankʷˤa[n]inner coffin
Zhengzhangkoːn
koːns
Unicodeguɑn

說文解字

關也。所以掩尸。从木官聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

葬 zàng bury

Depicts burying a dead body (死) beneath the grass (茻).

Components

茻
茻 Iconic component
mǎng, mǔ vegetation, overgrown weeds

Bottom part looks like unrelated 廾.

死
死 Iconic component
sǐ die

Used here to depict a dead body.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

髒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsangH[ts]ˤaŋ-s bury

說文解字

《說文》：“葬，藏也。从死在茻中。一其中，所以薦之。《易》曰：‘古之葬者，厚衣之以薪。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

甕 wèng earthen jar Traditional

Components

雍
雍 Sound component
yōng harmony
瓦
瓦 Meaning component
wǎ earthenware

pottery

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartʔuwngHqˤoŋ-searthen jar
Zhengzhangqoːŋs
Unicodeqùng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica