The Chinese term **幕府** (mùfǔ) is a compound word formed through semantic combination. The character **幕** originally means "tent" or "curtain," specifically referring to the field tent of a military commander. The character **府** means "office," "seat of government," or "administrative headquarters." Historically, the term literally signified the "tent-office" or field headquarters of a commanding general, where staff and advisors would plan campaigns and administer affairs. Over time, especially in East Asian historical contexts (most famously applied to Japan's Shogunate), it evolved by metonymy to denote the entire military government or ruling institution that originated from such a headquarters, representing a regime where actual political power was held by a military leader rather than the nominal sovereign.