chōng
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to pound (grain) in a mortar; to husk or crush with a pestle

Examples

Nǎinai zài shíjiù lǐ chōng mǐ.
Grandma is pounding rice in the stone mortar.
Yǒuxiē shǎoshù mínzú cūnzhài hái bǎoliú chōng cíbā de xísú.
In some ethnic villages people still pound glutinous-rice cakes.

Tips

memory
Picture two hands working a pestle down into a (a mortar): the bottom element IS the mortar, and the strokes above are the hands raising and dropping the pestle to pound grain.

Components

radical
jiù
mortar
The mortar at the bottom is a literal picture of the hollowed stone bowl grain is pounded in, the heart of the character's meaning.
semantic
sān
three (here a graphic residue)
The top is a stylised residue of two hands gripping a pestle; it no longer maps to an independent character but conveys the pounding action over the mortar below.

Stroke Order

chōng