Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

墓: grave, tomb

JLPT N113 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

土 carries the meaning · 莫 gives the sound

13 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ボbo · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 墓碑ぼひgravestone, tombstone
  • 墓地ぼちcemetery, graveyard
  • 墓穴ぼけつgrave (hole in ground)
  • 墓標ぼひょうgrave-marker, gravestone

はかhaka · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 墓はかtomb
  • 墓参りはかまいりvisit to a grave

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Imagine a cross planted firmly in the ground—that's 土! It shows a stake or a seedling marking the earth, reminding us of farming, construction, and the solid foundation upon which we build our lives and cities.”
More in the 土 earth story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
莫

Also built on 莫

墓 takes the 莫 family's reading, ボ (bo).

土

Also built on earth (土)

All 61

Also read ボ

7 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
墓 grave · 土
vs幕 curtain · 巾
墓 has 土 where 幕 has 巾.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · mù

Same form: 墓 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
墓 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
墓 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin mù most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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