事

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 事 (shì) is composed of two parts: the radical 卜 (bǔ), which means "divination," and the phonetic component 聿 (yù), which means "to write." The character 事 originally meant "to divine the future," but over time it came to be used more broadly to mean "affair," "matter," or "event."The radical 卜 is itself composed of two parts: the character 一 (yī), which means "one," and the character 丨 (gǔn), which is a vertical line. The character 一 represents the unity of heaven and earth, while the character 丨 represents the axis of the world. Together, the two characters 卜 represent the act of divination, which is seen as a way to communicate with the divine.The phonetic component 聿 is composed of two parts: the character 聿 (yù), which means "to write," and the character 戈 (gē), which is a weapon. The character 聿 represents the act of writing, while the character 戈 represents the power of the written word. Together, the two characters 聿 represent the idea of using the written word to record events and communicate information.The character 事 is a combination of the radical 卜 and the phonetic component 聿. It represents the idea of using the written word to record events and communicate information about the future.