办法

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 办法 (bànfǎ) is composed of two characters: 办 (bàn) and 法 (fǎ). The character 办 originally meant "to distinguish" or "to separate", and later came to mean "to manage" or "to do". The character 法 originally meant "law" or "rule", and later came to mean "method" or "way". Thus, the word 办法 literally means "to distinguish a method" or "to find a way". In modern Chinese, 办法 is used to mean "method", "way", or "solution". For example, we can say 解决问题的办法 (jiějué wèntí de bànfǎ) to mean "a solution to a problem".