日报
rì bào · HSK 2
daily newspaper
📰 日 (sun/day) + 报 (report) = day-report = daily newspaper
日 means sun or day; 报 means to report or news. Together 日报 is literally a day-report, the standard word for a daily paper like 人民日报 (People's Daily).
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.
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.