报纸
bàozhǐ · HSK 2
newspaper
📰 报纸 = 报 (report) + 纸 (paper) → report-paper = newspaper
报 means to report or announce (as in 报告 báogào, a report), and 纸 is paper. Together they form report-paper, the everyday word for a newspaper.
报 — hand 扌 (报) + 卩 seal/kneeling figure
Originally 報 depicted a hand pressing a kneeling criminal under a manacle (幸 + 卩 + 又), meaning 'to judge' or 'requite a crime.' From 'repay/requite' it broadened to 'respond, report, announce.' The simplified form 报 keeps the hand 扌 and 卩 but drops the manacle element.
纸 — silk radical 糹 + clan 氏
纸 means 'paper.' The silk radical 糹 reflects the early use of silk-like fibers in writing materials before true paper existed. 氏 ('clan') serves as the phonetic component, hinting at the sound zhǐ. Paper was traditionally credited to Cai Lun in the Han dynasty.