蕃

bō / fán / fān
noun #44,470

Meanings

  1. 1 (in 吐蕃) Tibet (Tang-era kingdom)

Examples

HSK 7-9
唐朝与吐蕃和亲结盟。
Tángcháo yǔ Tǔbō héqīn jiéméng.
The Tang court and the Tubo kingdom married into an alliance.

Tips

history
The bō reading survives in just one word: 吐蕃, the Tibetan kingdom of the Tang period (7th to 9th century). Outside this proper name you will not see 蕃 read this way.

Components

radical
艹 cǎo
grass; plant
The grass radical on top ties the character to vegetation and growth, fitting its core sense of plants flourishing and proliferating.
phonetic
番 fān
a turn; foreign
Supplies the sound: 番 drives the fán and fān readings, the same phonetic seen in 翻 and 潘.

Stroke Order

蕃 bō