Han character 萡

It is a variant of 箔, read bó in Mandarin.

Pinyin writes this Mandarin reading as bó; the accent mark signals a rising tone. A twelfth-century manuscript of the Japanese character dictionary 類聚名義抄 records 萡 as a variant of 箔. Chinese reference works also list 萡 under 箔 rather than give it a separate definition.

箔 first named practical objects such as reed or bamboo screens and trays for silkworms. Later dictionary senses include thin metal foil and foil-coated paper burned in rituals.

Is 萡 the same as 箔?

They are related forms, but 箔 is the usual spelling.

In 箔, 竹 is the bamboo component and 泊 supplies the sound. 泊 is also a separate character on its own; the components explain the written form, not an interchangeable spelling.

In Yunlin County, Taiwan, 萡 appears in the place name 萡子寮 and the shorter form 萡仔. As of 2026, local explanations connect 萡仔 variously to a shortened name tied to a fixed fishing net, a fish name, or a settlement that drifted. These are competing place-name explanations, not general definitions of 萡.