About
瓴 refers to a concave earthen roofing tile or a deep ceramic water pitcher. The tile radical 瓦 signals its connection to ceramics and building materials, while the left-side component 令 provides the pronunciation líng and carries no semantic meaning. It is best known from the classical idiom 建瓴 ('pouring water from a high roof tile'), which describes an overwhelmingly advantageous strategic position over an adversary.
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