verb

Meanings

  1. 1 (literary) to close up; draw together
  2. 2 (literary) harmonious; in accord

Examples

Jiāng yù xī zhī, bì gù zhāng zhī.
What you wish to draw in, you must first stretch out.

Tips

history
is not used independently in modern Chinese. It meant to fold or close up (as wings), and by extension harmonious; it survives in literary words like (to twitch open and shut) and (unanimously).
register
Literary; appears in classical philosophy and bound compounds, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical
feathers; wings
(feathers) is the radical, picturing wings folding closed against the body — the original image of drawing together.
phonetic
to close; join
supplies the sound, drifting from to ; its closing / joining sense also reinforces the meaning of folding shut.

Stroke Order