Dusting character

It means “dust off” or, in an older reading, “seek.”

In Mandarin Chinese, the practical reading is dǎn (roughly “tan,” with a low tone that dips and rises), meaning to brush dust away lightly. An older tàn reading is linked to 探, “seek”; the word around 撢 distinguishes the senses.

The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese dictionary compiled in 121 CE, glosses 撢 as 探 and analyzes it as the hand-related component 扌 plus 覃, used for its sound. In the Zhouli, an old text about ritual offices, 撢人 is an official who carried royal intentions and state affairs between states. The date of the received Zhouli text remains debated; as of 2026, this passage shows an old textual use, not a securely dated Zhou-dynasty origin.

Is 撢 related to 探 or 撣?

探 is the seeking link; 撣 is tied to dusting.

Chinese references record 撢 as an alternate written form of 探 only for the older “seek” sense, and connect its dusting sense with 撣. These relationships do not make the characters interchangeable; use the form written in the particular word.