About
Structurally a phono-semantic compound, 莒 combines the botanical radical 艹 (grass/vegetation) with the phonetic component 吕. Originally, it referred to a fibrous plant or root crop, sometimes identified as a type of taro. Beyond this botanical sense, 莏 gained historical significance as the name of an ancient state in present-day Shandong during the Zhou dynasty, frequently appearing in classical chronicles of that period.
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