国学
guó xué · HSK 7
civilization
📚🇨🇳 国学 = country (国) + study (学) = national studies, the learning of Chinese civilization
国 means country or nation; 学 means study or learning. Stacked together they name the scholarly study of China's own classics and culture. Historically the same word also labeled the Imperial College, the state's top center of learning.
国 — enclosure 囗 + jade 玉
国 is a simplified form of 國. The outer 囗 represents borders or an enclosed territory, while the inner 玉 (jade) suggests a treasured realm ruled by a sovereign. The traditional 國 used 或 inside, depicting a guarded region with a weapon, later simplified by replacing it with 玉.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.