The Chinese word "太阳" for "sun" is formed by combining two characters: "太", meaning "great" or "extreme", and "阳", which originally represented the sunny side of a hill and evolved to symbolize the sun, daylight, or the positive yang principle in philosophy. Historically, "阳" alone could refer to the sun, but the addition of "太" served to emphasize its supreme or ultimate nature, essentially meaning "the great sun" or "the ultimate yang". This compound likely arose to distinguish the sun as a distinct celestial entity from other connotations of "阳", such as brightness or masculine energy, and reflects the cultural significance of the sun in ancient Chinese thought, eventually becoming the standard term for the sun in modern usage.