What 桮 means
It means “cup”; 杯 is the usual modern form.
A related 杯-form appears in manuscripts from Chu, one of the states in China’s Warring States period; a Qin-era wooden writing slip shows 桮. Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, defines it as a cup. Its commentary says ancient 桮 held soup. The 木 element means “wood,” matching the vessel, and 桮棬 names a curved wooden drinking cup.
Is 桮 just another way to write 杯?
Yes for the cup word, but the setting can change the reading.
In Taiwanese Minnan, a variety of Southern Min Chinese, 桮 also names the paired divination blocks called 杯筊. They are cast to ask spirits for guidance; casting them is called 跋桮. This ritual sense belongs to temple and folk-religious settings, not every standalone use.
Archaic or variant beside everyday 杯; deliberate in modern Chinese writing.
For an ordinary cup, use 杯; 桮 looks deliberately old-fashioned.
Who writes 桮
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What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsUsually “cup,” written with an archaic or variant form.
Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
2
Combination ideas
3Questions people ask
1Why does 桮 look different on my device?
It can. This is a text character, so the font supplies its stroke design; different fonts can draw it differently. A font without the character may show a replacement box.
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How to type or find 桮
- Search it as
- older form of 杯 · 杯 variant · 杯筊 · 桮棬 · bei · bēi · Cangjie
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
桮\686ECodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.