About
捭 (bǎi) primarily means to open, separate, or spread apart. It is best known from the compound word 捭阖 (bǎihé), meaning to open and close, used metaphorically for diplomatic maneuvering and strategic revelation. Structurally, it is a phono-semantic compound. The left-hand radical 扌 (shǒu) signifies that the core meaning involves manual action or physical handling, while the right component 卑 (bēi) provides the phonetic hint. This character is closely associated with the Guiguzi (鬼谷子), an ancient text on statecraft and rhetoric, where the concept of "opening" is central to influencing adversaries and conducting political strategy.
Etymology Hide
