■ radical

gōng

fair

How it’s built

Originally a pictograph of a vessel for holding liquid. The original meaning is now written as 瓮, with the 瓦 (pottery) component added at the bottom. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Through the ages

Bronze script

Seal script

Appears in

Characters that use 公 as a component, most common first.

容róngappearance 船chuánship 松sōngpine tree 讼sòngto accuse 翁wēngold man 颂sòngto laud 铅qiānlead 瓮wèngurn 蚣gōngcentipede 衮gǔnimperial robe 袞gǔnimperial robe 頌sòngto laud 訟sòngto accuse 鉛qiānlead 鈆qiānlead (element)