U+978C "鞌" CJK Unified Ideograph-# Unicode Character

U+978C "鞌" CJK Unified Ideograph-# is a complex Chinese character (hanzi) that historically means a saddle, specifically the type used on a horse for riding. It is composed of the radical 革 (ge, meaning leather or hide) and the phonetic component 安 (an, meaning peace or safety), reflecting both its material and its function in securing the rider. This character appears in classical Chinese texts but is largely archaic in modern usage, having been replaced by the simpler and more common variant 鞍 (ān). As part of the CJK Unified Ideographs block, it represents a specific instance of script unification across Chinese, Japanese, and Korean writing systems, though its actual use is rare in contemporary contexts.