Kang
/kæŋ/noun
A heated brick or earthen platform used as a bed or living surface in northern China.
Did you know?A traditional kang could function as a bed, stove, and household heating system, with smoke and heat traveling through flues beneath its surface.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
*kʰˤaŋ-s
“Reconstructed form associated with a heated platform or bed”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
khangH
“A heated earthen or brick sleeping platform”
Ming Dynasty
Chinese
炕
“A heated bed or raised platform, especially in northern China”
19th Century
English
kang
“A Chinese heated brick bed, recorded in English travel and ethnographic writing”
Modern English
English
kang
“A heated platform used as a bed and source of household warmth”