Read pì for opening up or refuting: 开辟 (to open up), 辟谣 (to debunk a rumor), 精辟 (incisive). A separate reading bì covers the classical 'monarch' sense and 复辟 (restoration of a deposed regime).
mistakes
Do not confuse 辟 with the similar-sounding 避 (to avoid). They share a phonetic but are different characters with different meanings.
辛 depicts an ancient knife used to tattoo criminals and is the indexing radical. It anchors 辟 in the punishment family, the implement of legal judgement behind the 'penal law' and 'to refute' senses.
Top-left 尸 depicts a seated body, here standing for an authority figure in a punitive role. The upper-left corner of 辟 historically pictured a person presiding over judgement, the source of the classical 'penal law' sense.
口 sits below 尸 in the upper-left and depicts the mouth that pronounces a sentence or decree. Together they picture a ruler issuing a command, opening the way, which feeds the 'to open up' reading.
