桑

Mulberry tree. By extension: sericulture (the cultivation of leaves and the weaving industry); hometown or ancestral roots (often in the compound 桑梓); terrestrial landscapes subject to vast historical or geological change.

Tang-period reading *sɑng. Used as a surname, typically identifiable when appearing with 氏.

A phono-semantic compound based on the 木 (wood/tree) radical. No significant variants affecting translation.

In texts concerning taxation, rural labor, or household management, the glyph often functions as a metonym for the silk industry rather than the plant itself.