CJK Unified Ideograph 甏

It names a large earthen jar, crock, or urn. Dictionaries describe a narrow-mouthed, broad-bellied pickle jar or wine jar used for storage, with a modifier naming the material or contents.

The early paper trail is practical rather than symbolic. 《夢粱錄》 is dated 1274, and its household-goods catalogue places 瓷甏 among tubs, baskets, crockery, and water jars sold for daily use. The evidence points to an evolving vessel word, not a single inventor or one-off sign.

Is 甏 a jar or a water bucket?

Both readings are real; the dialect and setting decide.

The core dictionary sense stays close to jar, crock, or wine vessel. Cantonese references record several readings for that vessel word, while a Hong Kong account uses paang55 for a handled metal or enamel water container remembered from household water-rationing periods. As of 2026, that account describes the object as uncommon and the word as less familiar to younger readers. The bucket reading is a regional extension, not a correction of the jar sense.

Which jar words sit beside 甏?

Its written build pairs 彭 as the sound-bearing element with 瓦, the pottery element. Taiwan's Ministry of Education records 㼞 as a variant; older lexicons place 甏 beside jar and crock words such as 甖/罌 and 瓮/甕. Those are historical and lexical relatives, not evidence that every dialect swaps the characters freely.