宫

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palace; temple; castration (as corporal punishment); first note in pentatonic scale

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

宀 meaning “roof” + 吕 sound ( lǚ )

Components 宀吕

palace · Heisig RSH #2121

house + 吕 spine

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
平安神宫	Píng ān Shén gōng	Heian Jingū or Heian Shrine, in Kyōto, Japan
布达拉宫	Bù dá lā gōng	Potala, winter palace of Dalai Lamas in Lhasa, Tibet
黄道十二宫	huáng dào shí èr gōng	see 十二宮\|十二宫[shi2 er4 gong1]
文化宫	wén huà gōng	cultural palace
南宫市	Nán gōng Shì	Nangong, a county-level city in Xingtai City 邢臺市\|邢台市[Xing2 tai2 Shi4], Hebei
白金汉宫	Bái jīn hàn Gōng	Buckingham Palace
万国宫	Wàn guó gōng	Palais des Nations
克里姆林宫	Kè lǐ mǔ lín Gōng	the Kremlin
子宫环	zǐ gōng huán	intrauterine device (IUD)
宫内节育器	gōng nèi jié yù qì	intrauterine device (IUD)
子宫托	zǐ gōng tuō	pessary
子宫	zǐ gōng	uterus; womb
宫人	gōng rén	imperial concubine or palace maid; imperial secretary (old)
指南宫	Zhǐ nán Gōng	Zhinan Temple, Taoist temple in the hills of Muzha 木柵\|木栅[Mu4 zha4], Taipei
地宫	dì gōng	underground palace (as part of imperial tomb)
天宫	Tiān gōng	Temple in Heaven (e.g. of the Jade Emperor); Tiangong, Chinese space station program
自宫	zì gōng	to castrate oneself
二进宫	èr jìn gōng	name of a famous opera; (slang) to go to jail for a second offense
打入冷宫	dǎ rù lěng gōng	(idiom) to snub; to consign to the trash heap of history
白宫	Bái gōng	White House

Characters sharing the sound component 吕 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
吕 sound part	lǚ	a musical note; surname
侣	lǚ	companion; associate with
铝	lǚ	aluminum
闾	lǘ	a village of twenty-five families
莒	jǔ	taro, hemp; herb;
稆	lǚ	wild grain