The Chinese word **图书 (túshū)**, meaning "books," is a **coordinating compound** formed by combining two semantically related characters: **图 (tú)**, which originally meant "map," "diagram," or "picture," and **书 (shū)**, which means "to write" or "written document/book." Historically, "图" referred to illustrative materials like charts and maps, while "书" referred to textual records. When combined, they create a comprehensive term that encompasses all forms of bound published material containing both illustrations and text, evolving into the modern general word for "books" or "library materials."