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皤 (pó) is a phono-semantic compound that denotes a striking, pure white color, most often describing the white hair of an elderly person to convey advanced age and venerable status. The left-side component 白 (bái) 'white' supplies the core meaning, while the right-side 番 (fān) cues the pronunciation. Over time the character became firmly tied to the literary phrase 白发皤皤 (bái fà pó pó), which evokes a full head of flowing white hair, cementing its association with old age rather than with whiteness in general. As a result, 皤 is largely restricted to formal, poetic, or literary contexts, referring solely to elderly physical traits and not to any white object.
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