Sinograph Addenda · Signs

父father · fù · father

father

Where it comes from

A hand gripping a rod — or an axe, by some readings — the old emblem of household authority: the classic account. Set beside 子child · zǐ · child, son; the Master; a title of respect it frames the bond the Analects builds society from, and in 12.11 the pair carries half of political philosophy. Taught in the verb-and-object chapter.

How to remember it

Two flicks for the arms, a crossing below them for the rod in hand: household authority in four strokes — father.

In the wild