法 (fǎ): law; legal

Meanings

1 law; legal
2 method; way
3 France (abbreviation)

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

你有什么好办法？

Nǐ yǒu shénme hǎo bànfǎ?

Do you have any good ideas?

他学法语。

Tā xué Fǎyǔ.

He studies French.

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.