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張 (장) means "베풀" and is the 16th character of the Thousand Character Classic. The character 張 combines the bow radical (弓) with 長 (long), and originally denoted the act of drawin
張
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📖 Origin
The character 張 combines the bow radical (弓) with 長 (long), and originally denoted the act of drawing a long bowstring and stretching it taut. In the oracle-bone script it was rendered as the image of drawing a bow out long, and through the bronze inscriptions and small seal script it became standardized into its present form. From the sense of stretching or drawing a bow, the character gradually expanded to meanings such as 'to spread,' 'to set forth,' and 'to extend.'
🔍 Structure
弓 (bow) + 長 (long) = 張 (to spread)
張 is a semantic compound combining the bow radical (弓) and 長 (long). By depicting the drawing of a long bowstring tightly spread or stretched, it came to mean 'to spread,' 'to unfold,' and 'to extend.' Other characters related to the bow in a similar way include 彈 (to twang a bow) and 弛 (to slacken a bow).
🏛 Philosophy
Confucianism
From the sense of 張 as 'to spread,' Confucianism emphasizes the noble person's act of bestowing virtue widely and extending benevolence and righteousness. This signifies a broad heart and practice that bring benefit to all members of society. As the Analects say, "The noble person gathers friends through learning and aids benevolence through friends," bestowing benevolence is held to be of great importance.
Taoism
Taoism is wary of artificial 'bestowing' or 'expansion,' valuing instead effortless action (wu wei) that lets all things exist and unfold of themselves according to the flow of nature. Laozi said, "Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs," and from this 張 may be interpreted in the context of honoring the spread and mode of existence of nature just as it is, free of artificial intent.
📝 Idioms (3)
To put on a show of power through bluster despite lacking real ability. It is used mainly when someone with no substance merely boasts loudly or assumes a threatening attitude.
Literally "to raise banners high and sound the drums," it likens undertaking something on a grand scale or starting it with a great commotion. It is used chiefly when proceeding with an affair amid a great display of force.
An ordinary, unremarkable person; anyone at all. It derives from "the third son of the Zhang family and the fourth son of the Li family," using the most common surnames in China.
💬 Proverbs
Book of Rites
To keep the bowstring ever taut and never slacken it—even sages like Kings Wen and Wu could not endure it. This teaches that the harmony of tension and release is vital, and that excessive strain can in fact prove harmful.
Book of Rites
Now taut, now slack—the maxim that the bowstring is at times drawn tight and at times loosened, stressing the importance of balancing tension and release. It reminds us that in daily life, study, and work alike, one must not labor without rest but take proper repose.
📚 Daily Words
Firmly putting forward one's opinion or thought; an assertion.
Enlarging the scope or scale of something; expansion.
Expressing something to an excessive degree beyond the facts; exaggeration.
Swelling up or growing larger by stretching; expansion (as of volume).
🎭 K-Culture
Drama
In historical dramas, words such as 'expansion' and 'exaggeration' are frequently used in expressions like "to expand one's forces" or "to exaggerate one's momentum." These play an important role in depicting narratives in which a protagonist or a particular faction unfolds its capabilities or increases its influence.
🌍 World Culture
Ancient Civilization
In Western sports, an athlete spreading their arms wide or throwing out their chest to assert their presence symbolizes confidence and fighting spirit. This shares a context with the Eastern notion of "unfurling one's momentum"—drawing inner energy outward—a mode of expression shared across cultures.
🤖 AI Era Lesson
"The character 張 teaches us the wisdom of 'bestowing' and 'expanding' boundless possibility. The advance of technology ceaselessly widens the horizon of knowledge and information, letting human capacity be unfolded on a grand scale. Yet it also reminds us to beware of empty bluster and to pursue substantive growth, calling us to reflect on the value of ethical and sustainable 'bestowing' over reckless expansion. This character points us toward a direction in which we may 'unfold' a wise future of coexistence with technology."
📜 Classical Poetry (1)
Song of Youth
Wang Wei (699?–761) — Tang Dynasty
新豐美酒斗十千, 咸陽遊俠多少年. 相逢意氣為君飲, 繫馬高樓垂柳邊. 黃金絡馬頭, 錦帶張吳鉤. 自矜功業無人識, 意氣誰能與少年.
The fine wine of Xinfeng costs ten thousand a measure; how many young gallants there are in Xianyang. Meeting in shared spirit, they drink for one another's sake, their horses tethered by the willows beside the high tower. Gold trappings adorn the horses' heads, and a Wu hook hangs from a brocade sash. They vaunt their own merits, yet none take note, and so they grieve; who can match the high spirit of these youthful days?
This work by Wang Wei portrays the bold, high-spirited bearing of the young gallants of the Tang era. In the line "a Wu hook hangs from a brocade sash," 張 is used in the sense of "to hang" or "to fasten" a Wu hook (a blade) on a brocade sash, revealing the gallant's valiant and spirited bearing. This can be read beyond merely "hanging or spreading" an object to the broader sense of "displaying and setting forth" one's own presence.
❓ Quiz
1. Which is NOT a principal meaning of the character 張?
2. Which four-character idiom means putting on a show of power through bluster despite lacking real ability?
