里

Core senses include: 1. A quantifier for distance (metric). 2. A residential or administrative settlement, such as a rural village or hamlet, or a formal urban ward or neighborhood (particularly in early imperial capitals). It may denote a defined unit of territorial division rather than simply a cluster of dwellings.

Functions as a quantifier for distance and as a preposition meaning "inside," "within," or "in."

Contrast with 邑 (a larger town/settlement) and 村 (typically a smaller, more rustic hamlet). Distinguish from 理 (reason/logic), which is phonetically similar but semantically unrelated.

The prepositional use ("inside") is frequently a phonetic loan for 裡 (originally the lining of a garment). Variants include U+88CF, U+88E1, and U+91CC.

Graphical variations are generally stylistic iterations of the 田 (field) and 土 (earth) components and do not typically signal a shift in meaning.

When this glyph follows a noun, determine if the text refers to a literal village/ward or utilizes the glyph as a preposition for interiority (e.g., "within the heart"). Regarding distance, avoid forcing modern standardized conversions unless specific period metrics are explicitly required; in ancient texts, the unit often indicates scale or the effort of travel rather than a fixed mathematical constant.