宮

Translingual

Han character

宮 (Kangxi radical 40, 宀+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 十口竹口 (JRHR), four-corner 3060₆, composition ⿱宀呂)

Derived characters

• 𠹒, 𫱜, 𢞏, 熍, 𦞨, 𧎡, 𩘎, 𨜳, 𢾮, 𣪯, 𦵡, 𤹜

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 285, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7156
• Dae Jaweon: page 564, character 16
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 2, page 936, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5BAE

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 宮
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 宀 + 呂: many rooms under a roof — a mansion.

Etymology

STEDT compares it with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-jim ~ k-jum (“house”); see there for hypothesized cognates.

Pronunciation

Definitions

宮

1. (archaic) house; mansion; dwelling

   • 上古穴居而野處，後世聖人易之以宮室。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     上古穴居而野处，后世圣人易之以宫室。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

     Shànggǔ xuéjū ér yěchǔ, hòushì shèngrén yì zhī yǐ gōngshì.

     In times of yore people dwelled in caves or lived in the open wilderness. Later, wise people devised houses to replace that way of life.

2. (architecture) palace
3. (architecture, religion) temple; shrine

   • 秋，丹桓宮之楹。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     秋，丹桓宫之楹。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Qiū, dān Huán gōng zhī yíng.

     In the autumn, the pillars in the temple of the late Duke Huan were painted red with vermilion.

4. (anatomy, in compounds) Short for 子宮／子宫 (zǐgōng, “womb; uterus”).

   宮頸／宫颈  ―  gōngjǐng  ―  cervix

5. (music) the first note of the Chinese pentatonic scale

   • 宮者，容也，含也，含容四時者也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     宫者，容也，含也，含容四时者也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Ban Gu, The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, 79 CE, translated based on Tjan Tjoe Som's version

     Gōng zhě, róng yě, hán yě, hánróng sìshí zhě yě.

     Gōng means róng ‘to contain’; hán ‘to hold’; it contains and holds the four seasons

6. (historical law) castration as a punishment
7. (obsolete) to surround; to encircle
8. a surname

Usage notes

In reference to temples, 宮／宫 (gōng) is used for traditional deities considered to rank highly in the celestial bureaucracy, such as Mazu who was honored by the Qing dynasty as the "Queen of Heaven" after their successful invasion of Taiwan. In earlier history, it also referred to ancestral shrines.

Coordinate terms

• (Chinese pentatonic scale) 宮／宫 (gōng), 商 (shāng), 角, 徵／征, 羽

Hypernyms

• (historical punishment): 五刑 (wǔxíng)

Synonyms

• (house):

• (temple): 廟／庙 (miào)

See also

• 闕／阙 (què), 殿 (diàn), 宸 (chén)

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. a shrine; a palace

Readings

• Go-on: く (ku, Jōyō ^†)
• Kan-on: きゅう (kyū, Jōyō)^{←きゆう (kyuu, historical)}
• Kan’yō-on: ぐう (gū, Jōyō)
• Kun: みや (miya, 宮, Jōyō)
• Nanori: いえ (ie); たか (taka)

Compounds

Etymology 1

/mi₁ya/ → /miya/

From Old Japanese. A compound of 神 or 御 (mi, “spiritual honorific”) +‎ 屋 (ya, “house”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) みや (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

宮(みや) • (miya) 

1. (Shinto) the place where a god resides: a shrine
   • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho, page 413:

     Miya. ミヤ (宮) 神 (Camis)の社.

2. (Buddhism) a temple holding a Buddhist statue
3. the place where a ruler resides: a palace
   • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho, page 413:

     Miya. ミヤ (宮) 国王の子. また, 国王の宮殿

4. a member of the imperial family
   • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho, page 413:

     Miya. ミヤ (宮) 国王の子. また, 国王の宮殿

Proper noun

宮(みや) • (Miya) 

1. a surname
2. an old name for a region in the Atsuta area of Nagoya, Aichi prefecture, where the Atsuta Shrine is located

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 宮 (MC kjuwng, “dwelling; palace; note on a scale”). Compare modern Min Nan reading kiong.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) きゅ​う (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

宮(きゅう) • (kyū) ^{←きゆう (kyuu)?}

1. a palace
2. (traditional music of China and Japan) the keynote or tonic of a musical scale, such as do in the do re mi scale notation of solfège
3. Short for 宮刑: literally “palace punishment”, this consisted of castration for men and sequestration in the palace for women
4. (astronomy, astrology) a zodiac sign or house, defined as one-twelfth of the circle of the ecliptic

   黄(おう)道(どう)十(じゅう)二(に)宮(きゅう)、宝(ほう)瓶(へい)宮(きゅう)

   ōdō jūni kyū, hōhei kyū

   the twelve signs of the zodiac, the house of Aquarius

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 宮 (MC kjuwng). Recorded as Middle Korean 그ᇰ (kung) (Yale: kung) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

宮

Wikisource

宮 (eumhun 집 궁 (jip gung))
宮 (eumhun 대궐 궁 (daegwol gung))

1. Hanja form^? of 궁 (“house”).
2. Hanja form^? of 궁 (“palace”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

宮: Hán Nôm readings: cung

1. palace