上流
shàng liú · HSK 7
class
🎩 上流 = 上 upper + 流 flow/stream; the upper-stream of society = upper class
上 means upper or above; 流 means flow, stream, or current. Together the literal upstream sense extends to the top tier of society, the upper class. Sounds like shàng liú.
上 — horizontal line above a baseline
上 is an indicative character (指事): a short stroke placed above a longer reference line shows the concept of 'above' or 'up'. The earliest oracle-bone forms used two horizontal lines for this; the modern shape added a vertical stroke for clarity. The core meaning of 'upper, above, to ascend' has stayed stable for millennia.
流 — water radical 氵 + 㐬 (phonetic, child being born)
流 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, while 㐬 depicts an infant being born head-down with amniotic fluid, suggesting downward flow. Together they convey water flowing, and by extension 'to flow' or 'current'.