壅
to obstruct; to stop up; to heap soil around the roots of a plant
Closest English meanings
block·obstruct·clog
The Calligrapher — Dǒng Qíchāng 董其昌
Late-Ming theorist and running-script master who shaped later taste.
Ming calligrapher (1555–1636), master of running script/regular script — late-Ming connoisseur-critic of understated, misty elegance. Ming dynasty
Cultural Story
壅 means to block and, in farming, to mound earth around the roots of crops. The agricultural classic 氾胜之书 (Fan Shengzhi Shu) advises 壅土 to feed young shoots in spring. Canals 壅塞 (clog) with silt, a perennial worry of the 河工 (river works) along the Yellow River. 壅蔽 meant a ruler shut off from the truth by flatterers at court.
Common words & phrases
- 壅塞 block · clog · obstruct
- 壅蔽 block · hoodwink
- 壅滞 stagnant · blocked
- 壅土 mound soil · earth up
Read the story behind the character
Drainage 壅塞 (clogs) after a summer storm; a gutter 壅住 with wet leaves and twigs. Gardeners 壅土 around tomato plants to keep them upright; a meeting 壅蔽's bad news from reaching the top. Canal crews dread 壅 more than any other word in the manual. The word spans the furrow and the court — anything choked, whether by silt or by yes-men.
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