The sap of the lacquer tree In ancient times the Chinese character for lacquer was written 桼. It is composed of three parts: the top (木) is the character for wood or tree, the sloping lines in the middle symbolize channels taking the sap from a cut in the tree, and the bottom is the character for water (水), symbolizing the flowing out of sap.
漆字的古字寫作桼，上部是一棵「木」，左右兩撇代表被刀切破的樹皮上接了兩根導管，下面的「水」象徵汁液流出的樣子。