缶

Earthenware vessel; a crock, jar, or pot. Typically used for the storage of grains, water, or fermented liquids (e.g., as a storage bin). May be used metonymically to refer to the contents of the vessel, such as grain.

Specifically denotes fired clay. In ancient texts, this represents utility and common usage, standing in direct contrast to bronze (鼎, 簋) or lacquerware, which signal elite status and ritual function. Consequently, it can carry connotations of simplicity, poverty, or the mundane domestic sphere.

Graphical variant U+7F3B is semantically identical. Chronologically, this term is distinct from later terms such as 罐 (guàn), which often refers to more specialized containers (e.g., those with lids).

As Radical 121, it anchors the meaning of other characters related to ceramics or firing processes (e.g., 陶 "pottery"; 瓮 "large storage urn").