藥

Core sense is "medicine" or "remedy." The material range varies by period and genre:

• Botanicals: Herbs, roots, resins, and other plant-based agents.
• Minerals/Alchemy: In Han-era and later texts—particularly Daoist treatises—the term extends to minerals (e.g., cinnabar, gold) used as catalysts or elixirs.
• Toxins: In classical contexts, the distinction between medicine and poison is often one of dosage or intent; a 藥 may be intended to kill or incapacitate.

• Nominal: Primarily functions as a noun referring to the substance itself.
• Modifier: When preceding another noun, it often denotes "medicinal properties" or "medicinal quality."
• Verbal: Rare; implies the administration of medicine or the act of treating/medicating.

• Variants: U+846F (semantic variant); U+836F (simplified).

// Tang-period reading: //iɑk.

In manuscripts, the grass radical (艹) may occasionally merge with the top of the phonetic component (樂).

• Terminology: Avoid modern industrial terms like "pharmaceuticals." Depending on context, prefer "remedy," "concoction," "herb," or "elixir."
• Application: Do not assume ingestion. The term can refer to topical applications, fumigants, or symbolic/ritual remedies intended to treat spiritual or cosmic imbalances.