封

• Political and Territorial: The act of formally investing someone with a title and territory (verb), or the resulting fief and its boundary markers (noun).
• Physical Closure: The sealing of documents for authenticity or privacy; by extension, the sealed letter or envelope. Also refers to blocking or closing an opening or passage.
• Earthworks: A burial mound or earthen rampart.
• Administrative Measurement: A specialized unit of weight (one pound), typically used in contexts of tribute, taxes, or official measures.

• Transitive Verb: [Subject] → 封 → [Person/Land].
• Noun: Refers to the object of demarcation: the fief, boundary marker, burial mound, or sealed letter.
• Stative/Intransitive: Describing a state of being sealed or closed off.

• Boundary vs. Administration: Contrast 封 with 治 (//zhì//, to govern). While 治 concerns internal administration, 封 concerns the legal designation and outer limits of a space.
• Action vs. Object: Distinguish between the act of sealing/investing and the resulting object (the letter or the fief).

// When encountering //Fengjian* (封建) in early contexts, focus on the official demarcation of land and the establishment of administration; avoid projecting later European feudal structures onto the term.