戕

Covers a spectrum of weapon-inflicted violence, from wounding to killing, with a focus on the act of striking or piercing.

• Physical: To wound, injure, mutilate, slay, or kill.
• Abstract: In later strata, extends to general "harm" or "damage" (e.g., 戕害), though predominantly literal and physical in early texts.

Transitive verb. Frequently appears in contexts of suicide or self-mutilation (e.g., 自戕).

Contrast with 殺: While both can be translated as "kill," 殺 is the general term for ending a life, whereas 戕 emphasizes the visceral, aggressive nature of the act—the physical destruction or "striking down" of the target.

The glyph does not always distinguish between a non-fatal wound and a fatal blow; the translator must determine the outcome (injury vs. death) based on the surrounding narrative context.