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贝 — pictograph of a cowry shell, the indexing radical. Cowries were ancient currency, so
贝 anchors
责 in the family of money/value characters:
财 wealth,
账 account,
购 purchase,
货 goods.
责 originally meant a financial demand — to claim a debt — from which came 'duty, blame, reproach' (
责任 responsibility,
责备 to scold).
