鹽

A semantic compound:

監 — “to oversee; inspect”

鹵 — salt marsh; saline earth

This combination depicts the supervised production of salt from saline land or brine, reflecting salt-making as a state-controlled and labor-intensive process in ancient China.

Salt obtained by controlled processing of saline earth or seawater.

Salt was not merely a seasoning but a strategic resource, essential for:

- food preservation

- military logistics

- state revenue

Hence the presence of 監 (to supervise) in the character.

식염 (食鹽) — table salt

염분 (鹽分) — salinity

염전 (鹽田) — salt field

염산 (鹽酸) — hydrochloric acid

염류 (鹽類) — salts (chemistry)

In ancient China:

- salt production was often a state monopoly

- special officials were appointed to oversee salt works

- illegal salt trade was severely punished

This administrative reality is directly encoded into the character 鹽.

Related characters:

鹹 — salty

監 — supervise

鹵 — saline land

滷 — brine

In Korean Hanja usage, 鹽 remains the normative form. Because of its extreme complexity, it is very often replaced by simplified or variant forms in daily use.