Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

盆: basin, lantern festival

Also: tray

JLPT N19 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

皿 carries the meaning · 分 gives the sound

9 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

ボンbon · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 盆ぼんtray
  • 盆栽ぼんさいbonsai; miniature potted plant
  • 盆地ぼんちbasin (e.g. between mountains)
  • 盆踊りぼんおどりBon Festival dance; Lantern Festival dance
  • 旧盆きゅうぼんBon Festival of the lunar calendar

Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)分 (sound) + 皿 (meaning)

Source: Wiktionary, 盆 (rev. 94587493), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Divide/split (分) + bowl (皿). A flat "vessel" that "divides" or holds items—the traditional "tray" used in ceremonies during the O-bon festival.”
From the 皿 plate story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
分

Also built on part (分)

The 分 family reads フン (fun); 盆 is read ボン.

皿

Also built on plate (皿)

All 8

Also read ボン

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
盆 basin · 分
vs益 benefit · 八
盆 has 分 where 益 has 八.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · pén

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

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

Pinyin pén 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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