革 (gé): leather

Meanings

1 leather
2 to reform
3 to remove

Examples

革命

Gémìng

revolution

改革

Gǎigé

reform

皮革

Pígé

leather

Tips

memory

Pictograph of an animal hide being stretched — extended to 'reform' (strip away the old)

Components

pictograph

革 gé

leather; hide; to change

Self-radical character — 革 is Kangxi #177, indexing leather-goods (鞋 shoe, 靴 boot, 鞍 saddle, 鞭 whip). The oracle-bone form pictures a stretched animal hide with head, body, tail visible. From 'cured skin' came the extended sense 'transform, renew' — remaking something as raw skin becomes leather.

Radical

Leather Kangxi #177

The hide-and-leather radical, depicting a stretched animal pelt with head, body, and tail. Indexes characters that involve worked leather goods — straps, harnesses, drum heads, footwear: 鞋, 鞍, 鞭, 靴, 鞠. The metaphorical extension to 'remove / strip away' (as in 革命 revolution) lives outside the radical's compounding role.