雘

雘 names a fine mineral pigment, chiefly red.

The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng dates to around 433 BCE, during China's Warring States period; bamboo slips—narrow strips used for writing—from the tomb show an early written form of 雘. The Book of Documents, a classical Chinese text, uses 丹雘 for painting woodwork.

The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, glosses 雘 as good cinnabar; its commentary also gives the broader sense of fine colors. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, another classical text, uses 丹雘 for red and 青雘 for blue-green. In 雘, 丹 points to the red-pigment sense, while 蒦 indicates the sound. In Korean architecture, 丹雘 is also a name for dancheong, painted decoration on wooden buildings.

How do I type 雘?

Try huò first; wò is another recorded reading.

A Mandarin pinyin keyboard turns spellings into Chinese characters. Enter huo4; 4 marks the falling tone. Taiwan dictionaries also list wò, so try wo4 if your keyboard includes that reading. Wubi and Cangjie users can enter MYAC and BYTOE, respectively.