邦

State, nation, territorial polity.

Primarily functions as a noun; acts as a modifier in compounds (e.g., 邦人 "fellow countryman" or "person of the state").

• vs. 國: While often interchangeable, early texts frequently distinguish the two: 國 typically emphasizes the sovereign realm and centralized authority (a vertical orientation), whereas 邦 tends to denote the state as a political entity or territorial unit among others (a horizontal orientation).
• vs. 邑: Differs by scale of administration; where 邑 refers to a town, settlement, or small fief, 邦 represents the scaled-up territorial state.

Reading is stable (Tang reading //bang//; Fanqie 博江).

Determine whether the context refers to the physical territory (the land) or the political organization (the government).