牌

By extension: a token, emblem, brand, or placard used for marking identity or status.

In modern Chinese and Korean usage, 牌 refers broadly to signs, brand names, playing tiles (as in mahjong), and identification plaques.

Phono-semantic compound:

片 (조각 편) — semantic component, indicating a thin, flat object such as a slice or tablet.

卑 (낮을 비) — phonetic component, providing the sound pái / pae and connoting humility or rank, later semantically extended to marking identity or level.

Thus 片 + 卑 → 牌 — “a flat piece (of wood, bamboo, or metal) bearing an inscription or mark.”

In Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字補, later annotations):

「牌，榜也。从片，卑聲。」

“牌 means a notice board or placard; composed of 片 with phonetic 卑.”

This structure highlights both form (flat piece) and function (to display or identify).

Semantic evolution:

Literal: a flat wooden or bamboo piece used for inscription.

Administrative: registration or identity token (戶牌, 號牌).

Commercial: signboard or brand name (招牌, 商牌).

Ritual / commemorative: memorial tablet, shrine plaque (香牌, 牌位).

Recreational: playing piece or tile (e.g., 麻將牌, “mahjong tile”).

Modern extension: label, tag, license plate, trademark (e.g., 汽車牌照).

牌匾 (패편) — hanging plaque; inscribed board

牌號 (패호) — trade name; brand; registered mark

牌子 (패자) — sign; label; card; brand (modern Chinese loan)

號牌 (호패) — identification tablet (used for registration or taxation in premodern Korea and China)

門牌 (문패) — doorplate; nameplate

銘牌 (명패) — name plaque; nameplate for office or desk

牌照 (패조) — license plate; permit

香牌 (향패) — incense tablet (in ancestral or temple rituals)

Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, vol. 994):

「牌，榜也。又木片書名曰牌。」

“牌 means a notice board; also, a wooden piece inscribed with a name.”

Book of Yuan (元史 · 百官志):

「設號牌於門，以示職名。」

“Name tablets (號牌) were set upon the doors to indicate official rank.”

Ming Shi (明史 · 食貨志):

「立牌坊以旌節義。」

“Memorial arches (牌坊) were erected to honor virtue and loyalty.”

These illustrate 牌’s historical role as a medium of public identification and recognition, from household registration (戶牌) to moral commemoration (牌坊).

In ancient China and Korea, 牌 was widely used in administration and social control:

戶牌 (호패) — personal identification tag for census and taxation.

號牌 — military or household registration tablet.

In Confucian ritual practice, the word survives in 位牌 (위패) — the ancestral tablet bearing the name of the deceased, representing their presence at the family shrine.

In commerce, 牌 came to mean “brand” or “sign,” giving rise to modern terms like 商標牌 (“trademark”) and 名牌 (“famous brand”).

In popular culture, 牌 also signifies cards or tiles in games such as 麻將牌 (mahjong tiles) and 撲克牌 (playing cards).

Over centuries, it expanded from an administrative or ritual tool (戶牌, 位牌) to a commercial and cultural symbol — the sign, card, or brand that identifies people, houses, or enterprises.

In essence, 牌 embodies the concept of identity made visible — the tangible mark by which presence, ownership, or honor is recognized.