宗旨
zōngzhǐ · HSK 7
purpose
🎯 宗 ancestor/sect + 旨 decree = the founding aim, the guiding purpose
宗 means clan or sect, the root lineage; 旨 means a decree or intent. Together 宗旨 is the core aim or guiding purpose a group is founded on.
宗 — roof 宀 + altar/show 示
宗 depicts an altar (示) under a roof (宀), picturing an ancestral shrine where offerings were made. From this concrete image it came to mean 'ancestor' and 'clan,' then extended to 'school' or 'sect' — a lineage of teaching traced back to a founding master.