12th lunar month
臘 centers on the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, a time traditionally associated with year-end rituals and offerings.
臘 combines the meat radical ⺼ with the phonetic component 巤. It originally referred to a year-end sacrifice of meat, later extended to the twelfth lunar month when such rituals occurred.
The left side ⺼ (meat) suggests an offering, and the right side 巤 looks like a complex ritual vessel. Picture a meat offering prepared during the twelfth lunar month.
For ロウ, imagine a low, glowing fire during the twelfth-month ritual: low -> ロウ, and the meat offering is placed beside it.
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