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< Grade 7 Lesson
棺 - Coffin
Tree plank turned smooth and lacquered becomes the side of Coffin while a solemn Government Official in a square cap lifts the lid - a single hollow カン! locks the sound and the reading kan.
See it as 木 (wood) + 官 (official): the tree is the material, the official is the phonetic - simple, picturable.
Pin on one cultural hook: imagine 納棺の儀 (the encoffining rite) - cedar scent, incense, lacquered black with gold clasps, distant temple bells - or Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro passing rows of haniwa on a Kofun mound; the sight, smell, and the kan! make the character unforgettable.
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棺 - Coffin
Index #1356
Grade 7
12 strokes
JLPT Level: N1
Readings: カン
Compound Kanji

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