佛教
fójiào · HSK 6
Buddhism
☸️ 佛教 = Buddha + teaching
佛 (fó) means Buddha; 教 (jiào) means teach or doctrine. Together they form the name for Buddhism — literally the Buddha's teaching. The same 教 appears in 教师 (teacher) and 宗教 (religion).
佛 — person radical 亻 + 弗 (phonetic)
佛 is a phono-semantic compound: the 亻 radical signals 'person,' while 弗 supplies the sound. It was coined in early translations of Buddhist texts to transcribe the Sanskrit 'buddha,' so the character's meaning ('Buddha') comes from this loanword usage rather than its native parts.
教 — 老 (filial son being taught) + 攵 (hand with stick)
教 originally depicted an adult holding a stick or rod (攵) instructing a child, often shown with the element 爻 (lessons/counting) above 子 (child). It is a classic associative compound meaning 'to teach' or 'to instruct,' with the right side suggesting discipline and guidance. The modern meanings 'teach, religion, doctrine' all extend from this image of formal instruction.