墓 (mù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

墓

mù[mu4]Tone 4

grave, tomb, mausoleum

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · grave, tomb, mausoleum

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the top grass radical compact and flat, and expand the bottom structure (莫) steadily to provide a solid, tomb-like foundation.

1. Meaning

grave or tomb where someone is buried

mausoleum for historical figures or royalty

NounNeutral#death#architecture#history

Sample Usage

这座山上有很多古墓。
zhè zuò shān shàng yǒu hěn duō gǔ mù.
There are many ancient tombs on this mountain.
人们每年清明节都会去扫墓。
rén men měi nián qīng míng jié dōu huì qù sǎo mù.
People go to sweep the graves every year during the Qingming Festival.

2. Sound

/[mu˥˩]/Tone: 51

墓

mùmu4

`(51)

=mù

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound as in 'mother'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together lightly then released while humming through the nose.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot' or 'mood'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, like saying 'No!' in English when you are firm and absolute.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 4 (mù) with Tone 3 (mǔ) or Tone 2 (mú), as tone changes the meaning from tomb to mother or mold.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, definitive chop downward with your hand, mirroring a falling pitch from top to bottom.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the top grass radical compact and flat, and expand the bottom structure (莫) steadily to provide a solid, tomb-like foundation.

4. Components

Radical 土 · Earth Radical (earth, ground, soil)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 土 (indicates earth or burial ground)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 莫 (original sound: mù)

A grave (墓) is built under the grass (艹), hidden or sunset-like (莫) deep in the earth (土).

艹 grass on top of the ground
日 sun setting in the middle
大 big structure
土 earth or ground at the bottom

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

24· Phonetic Root: 莫 (mò)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally, the character combined the phonetic element 莫 (sunset, or things settling down as the sun goes down) with 土 (earth), representing a resting place covered in earth as day ends.

Semantic Evolution: Over time, the meaning narrowed specifically from a general burial mound to tombs, graves, and mausoleums.

Graves in ancient China were marked by large mounds of earth, making the earth radical essential.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ボ / Kun: はか

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

묘

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

At dusk, when the sun (日) sets below the grass (艹) and things are no more (莫), a big (大) mound of earth (土) marks the quiet grave.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

莫

mòdo not, sunsetWithout earth at the bottom, it means sunset or negative imperative.

幕

mùcurtain, tentWith cloth radical (巾) instead of earth, meaning a curtain or screen.

模

mómodel, patternWith wood radical (木) instead of earth, meaning a wooden mold or model.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

幕(mù)

墓 has earth (土) at the bottom because a grave is in the ground; 幕 has cloth (巾) at the bottom because a curtain is made of fabric.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

清明节的时候，很多人会去给先人扫[___]。

Clue: mù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the bottom component with wood (木) or mixing up 墓 (grave) with 幕 (curtain) due to identical pronunciation.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 墓 with earth at the bottom and a sunset/grass structure on top, what does it mean?

Production: How do you write the character for 'grave' or 'tomb' (mù), and which radical indicates the ground?

墓mùgrave, tomb, mausoleum

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