膚

• Anatomical: The living epidermis or soft tissue of the body.
• Metaphorical: Superficial or shallow; that which touches only the surface without penetrating the core.

• Noun: Skin, surface.
• Adjective: Superficial, skin-deep.
• Verb (Rare): To touch the surface. (Note: For "to skin" or "to strip," 剝 or 皮 are the standard choices).

Distinguished from 皮, which refers to hides, peels, bark, or skin in a general or structural sense; 膚 specifically denotes the tactile, permeable boundary of a living being.

Variant: U+80A4.

The 月 component is the "meat/body" radical (肉).

• Contextual Clue: Often appears in proximity to terms of sensation and touch (e.g., 感), signaling a shift from abstract discussion to physical or sensory interface.

// Caution: Avoid projecting the modern compound //fuqian* (膚淺) back into early texts; in classical contexts, "shallowness" may be a literal description of thinness or a specific critique of method rather than a general moral or intellectual failing.