Definitions

(verb) to impose; to levy; to tax
(noun) poetic essay; prose poem
(verb) to bestow; to endow

Etymology

Money  used to raise an army  also provides the pronunciation

About

The character 赋, whose traditional form is 賦, is structurally composed of the semantic component 貝, representing wealth or value, and the phonetic component 武, which also contributes a sense of martial imposition. This composition points directly to its original meaning of a tax or levy, specifically one imposed by authority, often for military purposes. From this concrete sense of imposed contribution, its meaning broadened significantly to denote the act of bestowing or conferring qualities, as in imparting characteristics upon something. Most notably, by the Han dynasty, 赋 was adopted as the name for a major genre of rhymed prose poetry, characterized by its elaborate, descriptive exposition and often presented to the court; this literary form represented an intellectual and artistic "levy" or deployment of language. Thus, the character’s evolution encapsulates a movement from a material, administrative imposition to an abstract, cultural one, with its structural components forever hinting at that foundational idea of levied contribution.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

法律予我们权利。

Fǎlǜ fùyǔ wǒmen quánlì.

The law grants us rights.

他很有音乐天

Tā hěn yǒu yīnyuè tiānfù.

He has a great talent for music.

政府降低了税。

Zhèngfǔ jiàngdī le fùshuì.

The government reduced taxes.

有艺术气质。

Tā fùyǒu yìshù qìzhì.

She is endowed with artistic temperament.

他目前闲在家。

Tā mùqián fùxián zài jiā.

He is currently idle at home.

诗人即兴诗一首。

Shīrén jíxìng fùshī yī shǒu.

The poet improvised a poem.

性乐观,从不沮丧。

Tā fùxìng lèguān, cóng bù jǔsàng.

He is naturally optimistic and never gets discouraged.

这首格曲结构复杂。

Zhè shǒu fùgé qǔ jiégòu fùzá.

This fugue has a complex structure.