封

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to confer; to grant; to bestow a title; to seal; classifier for sealed objects, esp. letters

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

To seal 寸 something with a handful of mortar 土

Components 圭寸

seal · Heisig RSH #167

glue + bricks

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
原封不动	yuán fēng bù dòng	(lit.) the original seal has not been disturbed (idiom); (fig.) left completely unchanged;…
封开县	Fēng kāi Xiàn	Fengkai, a county in Zhaoqing City 肇慶市\|肇庆市[Zhao4 qing4 Shi4], Guangdong
开封市	Kāi fēng Shì	Kaifeng, prefecture-level city in Henan Province 河南省[He2 nan2 Sheng3]
分封制	fēn fēng zhì	the feudal system; system of enfeoffment
封河期	fēng hé qī	freezing over of river in winter
封建主义	fēng jiàn zhǔ yì	feudalism
封一	fēng yī	front cover
封国	fēng guó	vassal state
封地	fēng dì	feudal fiefdom; land held as a vassal in feudal society; enfeoffment
自封	zì fēng	to proclaim oneself (sth); to give oneself the title of; self-appointed; self-styled; to l…
封山育林	fēng shān yù lín	to restrict access to a mountainous area to promote natural forest regeneration
分封	fēn fēng	to divide and confer (property on one's descendants)
封面	fēng miàn	cover (of a publication)
封三	fēng sān	inside back cover
封口费	fēng kǒu fèi	hush money
封建时代	fēng jiàn shí dài	feudal times
封口	fēng kǒu	to keep one's lips sealed; (of a wound) to heal; to seal (an envelope, bag, container etc)…
封开	Fēng kāi	see 封開縣\|封开县[Feng1 kai1 Xian4]
开封	Kāi fēng	see 開封市\|开封市[Kai1 feng1 Shi4]
开封	kāi fēng	to open (sth that has been sealed)

These characters use 封 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
封 sound part	fēng	envelope, letter; to confer, to grant; feudal
犎	fēng	zebu; humped-ox
葑	fēng	the rape-turnip