法 (fǎ): law; legal

Meanings

1 law; legal
2 method; way
3 France

Characters

法

fǎ

law; method; France

Contains the water radical 氵, since ancient Chinese law was conceived as being level and fair like water.

Examples

HSK 2

你有什么好办法？

Nǐ yǒu shénme hǎo bànfǎ?

Do you have any good ideas?

HSK 2

他学法语。

Tā xué Fǎyǔ.

He studies French.

HSK 4

遇到问题要用法律来保护自己。

Yùdào wèntí yào yòng fǎlǜ lái bǎohù zìjǐ.

When you run into problems, use the law to protect yourself.

Tips

usage

法 is very productive: 办法 (method/way), 法律 (law), 语法 (grammar), 方法 (method), 法国 (France), 法语 (French language), 想法 (idea).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form)

Three drops on the left - the contracted form of 水. Indexing radical, placing 法 in the water family alongside 河, 海, 流. The traditional etymology pictured law as the level surface of water: a fair, even standard that finds its own balance regardless of who is judged.

phonetic

去 qù

go; depart

Right component 去 - sound contributor (qù → fǎ, heavy Old Chinese drift, no longer transparent). Originally 法 also contained a mythical 廌 beast that gored the guilty, with 去 'sending the wrong-doer away'; the modern simplified form keeps only 去 as a residue of that 'casting out' meaning.