封
fēng
to confer
surname Feng; to grant; to bestow a title; to seal; classifier for sealed objects, esp. letters
jade tablet (圭) + measured hand (寸) = seal and confer
In ancient China, rulers would heap earth (圭 originally depicted a mound of soil) and use a measured hand gesture (寸) to officially grant land or titles. The idea of sealing and bestowing flows from this ritual act of formal, measured conferral.
她给远方的朋友寄了一封信。
tā gěi yuǎn fāng de péng yǒu jì le yī fēng xìn。
She mailed a letter to a friend far away.
皇帝封他为大将军。
huáng dì fēng tā wéi dà jiāng jūn。
The emperor conferred upon him the title of general.
Words with 封
冰封
bīng fēng
to freeze over
封建社会
fēng jiàn shè huì
feudal society
封口
fēng kǒu
to keep one's lips sealed
拆封
chāi fēng
to open (sth that has been sealed)
封开县
fēng kāi xiàn
Fengkai, a county in Zhaoqing City 肇慶市|肇庆市[Zhao4 qing4 Shi4], Guangdong
封路
fēng lù
road closure
封神演义
fēng shén yǎn yì
Investiture of the Gods, major Ming dynasty vernacular novel of mythology and fantasy, very loosely based on King Wu of Zhou's 周武王[Zhou1 Wu3 wang2] overthrow of the Shang, subsequent material for opera, film, TV series, computer games etc
开封
kāi fēng
see 開封市|开封市[Kai1 feng1 Shi4]
开封市
kāi fēng shì
Kaifeng, prefecture-level city in Henan Province 河南省[He2 nan2 Sheng3]
开封府
kāi fēng fǔ
Kaifeng as the capital of Northern Song dynasty
首日封
shǒu rì fēng
first day cover (philately)
信封
xìn fēng
envelope