改革开放
gǎi gé kāi fàng · HSK 7
to reform and open to the outside world
🇨🇳 改革开放 = reform (改革) + open up (开放); Deng's 1978 policy
改 = change, 革 = leather/transform (old word for revolution), 开 = open, 放 = release. Together: 'change-transform open-release' — the slogan for Deng Xiaoping's economic liberalisation starting around 1978.
改 — 己 (self) + 攴/攵 (action/strike)
改 is a compound of 己 'self' and 攵 (the action radical, originally a hand holding a stick). The image is of striking or applying force to oneself or one's situation, suggesting reform or correction. From this came the modern meaning 'to change, alter, correct'.
开 — two hands 廾 + door 门 (open gate)
Originally written 開, showing two hands (廾) lifting the bar (一) off a gate (門) to open it. The simplified form 开 keeps the two-hands element and drops the gate. Core meaning 'to open' extended to 'start, operate, bloom'.
放 — 方 (square/phonetic) + 攵 (rap/strike radical)
放 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 方 supplies the sound and 攵 (a hand holding a stick) supplies the meaning of striking or driving away. The original sense was to banish or drive out, which broadened over time to 'release', 'let go', and 'put down'.