About
The character "嫱" originates from its traditional form "嬙", which was used in early Chinese records to denote a female attendant or secondary consort within the imperial palace. Its structure combines the semantic radical "女" for woman with the component "嗇" acting primarily as a phonetic indicator, though "嗇" itself relates to concepts of harvesting or storage. Over time, the term's meaning specialized to refer specifically to ranked women in the harem system, and while its contemporary usage is largely archaic, the character's form later shifted to "嫱", where the phonetic element was replaced by "墙".
Etymology Hide
