瓷

Phono-semantic compound:

瓦 (wǎ, “tile, clay”) — semantic, indicating earthen or ceramic material.

次 (cì, “next, orderly”) — phonetic, giving the sound cí and hinting at refinement or gradation.

Originally, 瓷 described fine, purified clay products distinguished from coarse earthenware.

The smoothness and whiteness of 瓷 ware set it apart from ordinary pottery, giving rise to the later sense “porcelain.”

True porcelain emerged during the Tang dynasty, achieving perfection in the Song dynasty (宋朝) with kilns such as Ding (定窯), Ru (汝窯), Guan (官窯), and Cizhou (磁州窯).

The brilliance of these wares spread along the Silk Road, and the word “china” in English ultimately derives from this tradition.

In historical usage, 瓷 and 磁 (magnet) were sometimes interchanged — particularly in the compound 磁器 (자기) — because Cizhou (磁州) in Hebei province became famous for its ceramics.

Over time, 瓷 came to be the standard character for porcelain, while 磁 retained its literal meaning of “magnet.”

Porcelain was revered not only as a craft but also as a symbol of purity and refinement.

Its translucent whiteness represented moral clarity in Confucian aesthetics and spiritual purity in Buddhist and Daoist imagery.

In poetry, a flawless 瓷杯 (porcelain cup) could evoke fragility, elegance, or the fleeting nature of beauty — a metaphor echoed across Chinese, Korean, and Japanese literature.