公义 (gōng yì) — justice; righteousness

Definition

noun

justicerighteousness

Easily confused

公义。
gōng yì Shì shè huì wěn dìng de jī chǔ.
Justice is the foundation of social stability.
公义。
Tā wèi gōng yì fèn dòu le yì shēng.
He fought for righteousness his whole life.
公义。
Fǎ lǜ yīng dāng wéi hù gōng yì.
The law should uphold justice.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

义yìrighteousness

“公” means public and “义” means righteousness, so the word means public justice.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

我

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.