gōng

public

collectively owned; common; international (e.g. high seas, metric system, calendar); make public; fair; just; Duke, highest of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 wei4]; honorable (gentlemen); father-in-law; male (animal)

divide (八) + private self (厶) = what belongs to all

The private self (厶) is divided and opened outward (八), transforming what is mine into what belongs to everyone. This inversion of selfishness is the root of fairness and public life.

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DivisionSemantic
The privateSemantic

Words with 公

公升

gōng shēng

liter

公转

gōng zhuàn

orbital revolution

通用汽车公司

tōng yòng qì chē gōng sī

General Motors

递推公式

dì tuī gōng shì

recurrence formula

丑媳妇早晚也得见公婆

chǒu xí fù zǎo wǎn yě děi jiàn gōng pó

lit. the ugly daughter-in-law must sooner or later meet her parents-in-law (idiom)

铁公鸡

tiě gōng jī

cheapskate

长乐公主

cháng lè gōng zhǔ

Princess Changle of Western Wei of the Northern dynasties 西魏[Xi1 Wei4], given in marriage c. 545 to Bumin Khan 土門|土门[Tu3 men2]

开诚布公

kāi chéng bù gōng

variant of 開誠布公|开诚布公[kai1 cheng2 bu4 gong1]

关公

guān gōng

Lord Guan (i.e. 關羽|关羽[Guan1 Yu3])

关公面前耍大刀

guān gōng miàn qián shuǎ dà dāo

lit. to wield the broadsword in the presence of Lord Guan (idiom)

关联公司

guān lián gōng sī

related company

阻差办公

zǔ chāi bàn gōng

(law) obstructing government administration (Hong Kong)

More characters with 八