What 葛 means
It names kudzu, its textile, and a family name.
In 2008, a study of oracle-bone inscriptions—writing carved on animal bones and turtle shells—compared an ancient place-name sign with 葛, but the identification is disputed. Later character analysis treats 艹 as a plant marker and 曷 as a sound-bearing element.
Fibers from the vine’s bark were woven into fine or coarse cloth and summer garments. The character also names an ancient state and appears in Chinese family names.
Surrounding Chinese text tells you whether 葛 refers to the vine, its material, or a family name.
What it means when someone sends it to you
2 readingsQuestions people ask
1Why does 葛 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type 葛
葛\845BCodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.