Definitions

cháng Bagridae (catfish family)

Etymology

About

鲿 is a phono-semantic compound with the fish radical on the left and the phonetic on the right (traditional form , using and ). The radical categorizes it as a fish, a freshwater species resembling the yellow catfish, distinguished by barbels around its mouth. It inhabited the major river systems of historical China and occasionally appears in classical poetry and agricultural texts describing local aquatic fauna and fishing practices.