Listed among the eight classical instrument materials (the 八音), where dried gourd formed the wind-chest of the 笙 mouth-organ.
history
Rarely used alone today, mostly in 匏瓜 (bottle gourd). It joins 夸, a clipped form of the 瓜 gourd shape, with the wrapping element 包 for the sound and the idea of something that holds things.
On the left, here a pared-down form standing in for the gourd shape rather than its everyday "boast" sense. It supplies the meaning that this is a gourd, not the sound.
