盟 (méng): oath

Meanings

1 oath
2 alliance
3 league

Characters

盟

méng

oath; alliance

Examples

HSK 6

两国结盟对抗共同的敌人。

Liǎngguó jié méng duìkàng gòngtóng de dírén.

They formed an alliance to face the common enemy.

HSK 6

这个军事同盟已经持续了几十年。

Zhège jūnshì tóngméng yǐjīng chíxù le jǐshí nián.

This military alliance has lasted for decades.

Tips

history

皿 (dish) below pictures a ritual vessel - a 盟 was a blood oath sworn over a sacrificial bowl.

Components

radical

皿 mǐn

vessel; bowl

Bottom 皿 is the vessel radical, indexing 盟. In bronze-age oath-taking rites, allies smeared blood from a sacrificial dish on their lips. The bowl below pictures that very vessel - the character is a literal record of how alliances were sealed. Same vessel-family: 盆 basin, 盘 plate, 盛 to fill.

phonetic

明 míng

bright; clear

Top 明 supplies the sound - míng drifting to méng with a nasal-final shift, visible across the same series like 萌 (sprout). It is itself 日 sun + 月 moon, the iconic bright-compound; its 'open, clear' flavour fits oaths sworn in daylight before witnesses.