About
The character 匐 is built with the radical 勹, which conveys "wrapping" or "enclosing", forming an outer boundary, while the interior holds the phonetic component 畐 (fú) that gives the sound. Its meaning is the act of crawling or creeping, moving forward with the body close to the ground. The character is rarely used alone; it is most familiar in the compound 匍匐 (púfú), which emphasizes a continuous, dragging motion on hands and knees or stomach, applied to soldiers, animals, and plants that creep along the ground.
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