盆

盆 (Kangxi radical 108, 皿+4, 9 strokes, cangjie input 金尸竹廿 (CSHT), four-corner 8010₇, composition ⿱分皿)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 793, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 22959
• Dae Jaweon: page 1208, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2558, character 7
• Unihan data for U+76C6

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bɯːn) : phonetic 分 (OC *pɯn, *bɯns) + semantic 皿.

盆

1. basin; tub (Classifier: 個／个 m)

   花盆  ―  huāpén  ―  flower pot

   洗臉盆／洗脸盆  ―  xǐliǎnpén  ―  washbasin

2. basin-shaped thing

   骨盆  ―  gǔpén  ―  pelvis

3. unit of volume equal to 12 斗 (dǒu) and 8 升 (shēng) (128 liters)
4. Classifier for basins of things.

   一大盆水  ―  yī dà pén shuǐ  ―  a large basin of water

   一盆花 [Cantonese]  ―  jat¹ pun⁴ faa¹   ―  a pot of flowers

5. a surname: Pen

Others:

• ⇒ Japanese: 盆(ぼに) (boni)

Shinjitai	盆
Kyūjitai [1][2][3]	盆󠄁 盆+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	盆󠄃 盆+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

(Jōyō kanji)

• Go-on: ぼん (bon, Jōyō)^{←ぼん (bon, historical)}
• Kan-on: ほん (hon)^{←ほん (fon, historical)}
• Kun: はち (hachi, 盆)、ほとぎ (hotogi, 盆)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

トレイ (tray)

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Tray

Wikipedia

From Middle Chinese 盆 (MC bwon). Compare modern Mandarin 盆 (pén).

• (Tokyo) ぼん (Heiban – )^[4][5][6]
• IPA^(key):

盆(ぼん) • (bon) 

1. a tray (for carrying e.g. dishes)
2. (archaic) a flat earthenware pot, bowl, or basin
3. short for 盆茣蓙(ぼんござ) (bon goza), a woven rush mat for rolling or throwing dice in gambling
4. a gambling den, a place where gambling happens
5. a gamble, a match, a contest
6. a household, a residence, a home (by extension from the sense of having one's own serving tray)
7. a place for a tryst
8. the circular area of a 回り舞台 (mawari butai, “revolving stage”) (from its resemblance to a round serving tray)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

お盆 (Obon)

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Bon Festival

Wikipedia

Short for 盂蘭盆 (Urabon) or 盂蘭盆会 (Urabon'e), from Middle Chinese 盂蘭盆 (hju lan bwon) or 盂蘭盆會 (hju lan bwon hwaj^H) (compare modern Mandarin 盂蘭盆／盂兰盆 (yúlánpén) or 盂蘭盆會／盂兰盆会 (yúlánpénhuì)), a transcription of Pali ullumpana (“raising, helping”), present participle of Pali verb ullumpati (“to raise up, to help”).

A number of Japanese dictionaries state that this term derives from Sanskrit उल्लम्बन (ullambana), purportedly meaning “hanging upside-down” in reference to the souls of the dead being tortured in hell by being strung up by their feet.^[7][5][8][9] However, the Sanskrit word was sparsely, if at all, attested (Ashikaga, 1951); in addition, it would be the present participle of verb उल्लम्ब् (ullamb, “to hang”, intransitive), with no inherent “upside-down” meaning.^[10][11]

Moreover, neither the purported meaning of “hanging upside-down” nor the verifiable meaning of “hanging” match the semantics very well, given that the urabon ceremonies are about helping the dead, closer in meaning to the “helping” sense of the Pali verb.^[12] This suggests that explanations of the dead hanging upside-down in hell are more likely to be folk etymologies based on a mistaken connection to the Sanskrit verb, rather than a more direct semantic link to the Pali. Alternatively, Junjirō Takakusu (apud Ashikaga, 1951) propounded that the origin was in fact Pali ullumbana, a colloquial corruption of Pali ullumpana (“raising up; saving; helping”), and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit.

• (Tokyo) ぼん (Atamadaka – )^[4][5][6]
• (Tokyo) ぼん (Heiban – )^[5][6]
• IPA^(key):

盆(ぼん) • (bon) 

1. an offering or votive at Obon

盆(ぼん) • (Bon) 

1. the Obon or Bon Festival, an event with Buddhist roots, celebrated on July 15

• List of festivals in Japan on Wiktionary
• List of festivals in Japan on Wikipedia

Alteration from bon, where the final moraic n changed to ni.^[7][5] Compare the Japanese given name 紫苑 with similar development of reading Shioni from Shion.

Obsolete reading.

• IPA^(key):

盆(ぼに) • (Boni) 

1. (obsolete) the Obon festival (see above)

盆 • (bun) (hangeul 분)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

盆: Hán Nôm readings: bồn, buồn, vồn, bòn, dồn

1. pot

• Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
• Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
• Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm, NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999