块kuài

The traditional form 塊 (kuài, "piece, block") preserves an earth radical包裹着鬼, literally "earth wrapped around a ghost" — a clod of soil so solid it seemed inhabited by spirit. The simplified 块 abandons this evocative interior, reducing the character to earth plus a simplified outline. Both forms still mean a lump or piece, whether of earth, food, or abstract matter, though only the traditional hints at why ancient people saw ghosts in dirt.