丸

The earliest forms, attested in bronze inscriptions, depict a person bending or curling the body forward, forming a compact, rounded shape.

This has been interpreted as symbolizing something small and spherical, or the act of curling into a ball.

Some paleographers note the resemblance of early 丸 forms to a reversed shape of 仄 (기울 측), suggesting that the earliest 丸 (𠁽) derived graphically from an inverted or mirrored form of 仄, representing a body turned or rolled over.

According to Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「丸，小弁也。从九从丶。」

“丸 signifies a small sphere; formed from 九 and a dot (丶).”

This reflects a simplified depiction of a rounded mass or pellet.

Over time, 丸 came to be used not only for spherical objects but also for units of counting small round items (like eggs or beads).

The derivative sense of “projectile” or “bullet” (彈丸) arose from this same idea of a compact, rounded form.

丸 (환) — small ball, pellet, pill

彈丸 (탄환) — bullet; small projectile

藥丸 (약환) — medicine pill; tablet

丸藥 (환약) — round medicinal pill (traditional medicine)

淸心丸 (청심환) — “clear-heart pill,” traditional calming medicine

養神丸 (양신환) — restorative pill

金丹丸 (금단환) — elixir; alchemical pellet

鳥卵丸 (조란환) — egg-shaped pill

一丸 (일환) — one round piece; one pellet

In traditional East Asian medicine, 환(丸) refers to compressed spherical preparations made by kneading powdered herbs with honey or water, forming small pills that are dried and stored.

The suffix “-환(丸)” in Korean medicinal names (as in 청심환, 우황청심환, 공진단환) directly signifies this form.

In literature, 丸 is also used metaphorically. The compound 彈丸之地 (“a land as small as a bullet”) denotes an extremely small territory or humble country.

For example, in the Zuo Zhuan (左傳·昭公二十年):

「彈丸之地，而欲以力爭於天下。」

“On a land no larger than a pellet, yet wishing to contend with the world by force.”

The Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典) further distinguishes 丸 from the visually similar 丮 (잡을 극), noting that in characters like 孰 (숙), 執 (집), and 埶 (예), the internal component historically derived from 丮, not 丸 — though the two were often confused in later script forms.

In modern Taiwanese standard script, 丸 and 丮 are carefully differentiated: 丸 written with a central dot within 九, and 丮 written with an open structure, preserving the semantic distinction between “roundness” and “grasping.”

Thus, 丸 preserves through millennia the simple yet profound imagery of the round form — whether in a ball, a seed, or a medicine — symbolizing wholeness, compactness, and life-giving essence.