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The character 莒 is a phono-semantic compound: the top radical 艹 ('grass') shows it belongs to the plant kingdom, and the bottom element 吕 gives its sound. Originally, it referred to a fibrous plant or root crop, sometimes identified in historical texts as a variety of taro. Later, it became the proper name of an ancient state in present-day Shandong province during the Zhou dynasty, frequently appearing in classical historical chronicles that detail geopolitical events and territorial divisions.
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