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The character 鲧 (traditional: 鯀) is a phono-semantic compound, combining the fish radical 魚 on the left with the phonetic element 絲 (or a variant) on the right that supplies the sound. The original meaning was a large mythical fish or sea monster, yet the character is overwhelmingly used for the mythological figure Gun, father of Yu the Great, who was charged with controlling the Great Flood. As such, it appears almost exclusively as a proper noun in historical and mythological contexts, rather than as a common noun for an aquatic creature.
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