釉 (yòu): glaze (on porcelain or pottery)

Measure Word

一层釉 céng

Meanings

1 glaze (on porcelain or pottery)
2 enamel

Characters

釉

yòu

glaze (on ceramics)

Examples

这只青花瓷的釉非常光滑。

Zhè zhī qīnghuācí de yòu fēicháng guānghuá.

The glaze on this blue-and-white porcelain is incredibly smooth.

宋代的青釉以清雅著称。

Sòng dài de qīngyòu yǐ qīng yǎ zhùchēng.

Song dynasty celadon glaze is renowned for its refined elegance.

Tips

culture

釉 is the glassy coating fired onto ceramics — a defining element of Chinese pottery. Famous historical glazes include 青釉 (qīngyòu, celadon green), 白釉 (báiyòu, white glaze), 黑釉 (hēiyòu, black glaze) and the multicolored 三彩 (sāncǎi) of the Tang dynasty. Jingdezhen porcelain centers its identity on glaze techniques.

memory

The character has 釆 (biàn 'distinguish') on the left and 由 (yóu) on the right as a phonetic. Think 'something distinct that comes out (from firing)' — the glassy surface that emerges from the kiln.

Components

radical

釆 biàn

to distinguish; animal claw print

釆 (the indexing radical) pictures animal claws separating tracks in dirt — the to-distinguish radical, distinct from 采 (pick). Here it gestures at the surface coating of porcelain, the layer that distinguishes raw clay from finished ware.

phonetic

由 yóu

from; cause; reason

由 yóu provides the sound, shifted to yòu. The same phonetic surfaces in 油 (yóu, oil), 抽 (chōu, pull) and 袖 (xiù, sleeve) — and the oil-glaze image of 油 dovetails neatly with the glassy surface of pottery glaze.