坟

墳
fén
noun HSK 7-9 #9,545

Measure Word

一座坟 zuò

Meanings

  1. 1 grave
  2. 2 tomb

Examples

HSK 4
Shānshàng yǒu jǐ zuò lǎo fén.
There are several old graves on the hill.
HSK 7-9
Qīngmíngjié wǒmen qù sǎo fén.
We go to sweep the graves on Qingming Festival.

Tips

culture
Grave-sweeping (扫墓/扫坟) during Qingming Festival is one of the most important Chinese traditions for honoring ancestors.

Components

radical
土 tǔ
earth; soil
Left-side earth radical - a pictograph of a clod of soil. Indexes 坟 in the land family alongside 地 ground, 城 city wall, 坑 pit. Carries the meaning: a grave is a mound of earth raised over a buried body - the radical names what the tomb is made of, dirt heaped above the coffin.
phonetic
文 wén
writing; culture
Right side 文 supplies the sound: wén drifted to fén via a regular w/f alternation. 文 itself shows crossed lines, the pattern that became writing - that imagery doesn't transfer here. The simplified 坟 replaces the traditional 墳 phonetic 賁 with this shorter 文. Same w/f shift powers 纹 pattern, also reading wén.

Stroke Order

坟 fén