琮

cóng
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 a ritual jade tube, square outside and round-bored

Examples

HSK 7-9
Liángzhǔ wénhuà de yùcóng shì zhùmíng de gǔdài lǐqì.
The jade cong, 玉琮, of the Liangzhu culture is a famous ancient ritual object.

Tips

history
琮 is not a general modern word; it names a specific ancient jade artifact, square on the outside with a round bore, used to honor the earth. It appears mainly in archaeology, as in 玉琮. It joins the jade radical 王 with 宗 for the sound.
register
Classical and specialist - found in archaeology and old ritual texts, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical
王 yù
jade
Left-side jade radical, written like 王 but standing for 玉 (jade). It fixes 琮 as a jade object, like 玫 and 璧.
phonetic
宗 zōng
ancestor; clan
宗 on the right supplies the sound (zōng to cóng) and suits the ritual use of the object. The same phonetic appears in 综 and 棕.

Stroke Order

琮 cóng