About
苘 (qǐng) is a phono-semantic character: the grass radical 艹 (cǎo) at the top classifies it as a plant, while the lower component 冋 (jiōng) serves as the phonetic. It was created to name the Indian mallow or velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti), an annual herb whose strong bast fibers were historically harvested to produce ropes, burlap sacks, and coarse textiles. Most occurrences of 苘 are in the compound 苘麻 (qǐngmá), and the character is used primarily in agricultural contexts, textile manufacturing histories, and certain regional dialects, rather than in everyday speech.
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