Chinese character 𨱎

𨱎 is a simplified form of 鍮, a historical metal term.

The Mandarin reading sounds roughly like “toe,” with a high, level tone. The earliest Chinese examples of 鍮 appear in translated Buddhist scriptures. The older character 鍮 was chosen to approximate the sound of a foreign word, rather than invented as an unrelated name. Its source is disputed; one leading proposal links it to Persian tūtiya, a term for a zinc mineral.

Older explanations describe a gold-looking mineral or natural copper; later writing also uses 鍮石 for brass. Scholars disagree on whether the earliest sense meant ore or the metal itself, so read the surrounding description.

Why does 𨱎 appear in historical objects?

It named a traded material used in objects and official rules.

In the Han–Tang period, records connect 鍮石 with incense burners, bracelets, hairpins, belt fittings, vessels, and other Buddhist or personal objects. Its gold-like appearance links the term to trade and craft.

In Silla-period Korean regulations, 鍮石 appears alongside gold and silver in rules about rank and permitted materials. By the Ming period, 黄铜 was replacing 鍮 as the ordinary name for the alloy. For ordinary writing about brass, 黄铜 is clearer; 𨱎 and 鍮 preserve older wording.