The word 政府 (zhèngfǔ), meaning "government", is formed through a conceptual combination of two ancient characters: 政 (zhèng), which represents the act of governing, administration, or political order, and 府 (fǔ), which originally signified a treasury, repository, or administrative headquarters. The term thus conceptually merges the abstract function of political rule and public administration (政) with the concrete idea of the physical seat or institutional body where such authority is exercised and housed (府). This formation reflects the traditional understanding of government as both the action of ruling and the official establishment from which power is executed.