Chinese character 葲

It names an old grass or herb.

The Kangxi Dictionary defines 葲 as a grass name, especially 羊葲, and links it to 羊泉, a purple, chrysanthemum-like herb. 葲 combines 艹, which marks a plant, with 泉, which supplies the sound; 泉 is therefore a useful related character.

A Chu bamboo-slip text from the Warring States period preserves an early form on slip 47 of 性自命出. Some comparable manuscript forms have been identified as 葲 and read as 原 or 源, but that reading is disputed and depends on the passage.