坟 (fén): grave

Measure Word

一座坟 zuò

Meanings

1 grave
2 tomb

Characters

坟

fén

grave; tomb

Examples

HSK 2

山上有几座老坟。

Shānshàng yǒu jǐ zuò lǎo fén.

There are several old graves on the hill.

HSK 6

清明节我们去扫坟。

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.