barbarian, egg
蛋 centers on a primitive or uncivilized person (barbarian) and, by extension, the egg of such creatures or simply an egg. The two meanings are linked through the idea of something raw or undeveloped.
蛋 combines 疋 (a foot or leg) with 虫 (insect/reptile). The exact historical development is uncertain, but it likely originally referred to a type of barbarian tribe, with the egg meaning arising later as a phonetic loan or semantic extension.
A barbarian's foot (疋) stomps on an insect (虫), crushing it like an egg. This links the barbarian and egg meanings through a violent, primitive act.
For タン, imagine a barbarian tanning an egg-shaped leather hide under the sun: tan -> タン.
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protein
century egg; thousand-year old egg; hundred-year old egg; preserved egg (Chinese delicacy)
lipoprotein
low-density lipoprotein; LDL
low-density lipoprotein; LDL
animal protein
nucleoprotein
vegetable protein
seitan; wheat gluten
phosphoprotein
total protein
Tanka people (of southern China)
anabolic steroid
Protein Engineering Research Institute
opal
egg yolk
total serum protein
hyperlipoproteinemia
hyperproteinemia
hen's egg (esp. in Chinese cuisine)