| 宫 | gōng | palace / temple / castration (as corporal punishment) / first note in pentatonic scale |
| 五刑 | wǔ xíng | imperial five punishments of feudal China, up to Han times: tattooing characters on the forehead 墨[mo4], cutting off the nose 劓[yi4], amputation of one or both feet 刖[yue4], castration 宮|宫[gong1], execution 大辟[da4 pi4] / Han dynasty onwards: whipping 笞[chi1], beating the legs and buttocks with rough thorns 杖[zhang4], forced labor 徒[tu2], exile or banishment 流[liu2], capital punishment 死[si3] |
| 宫 | Gōng | surname Gong |