松绑
sōng bǎng · HSK 7
to ease restrictions
🪢 松绑 = 松 loosen + 绑 tie up = loosen what was tied
松 means loose or slack and 绑 means to bind or tie up, so together they mean to undo a binding. By extension it covers loosening rules or controls, like deregulation.
松 — tree 木 + public 公
A semantic-phonetic compound: 木 (tree) gives the meaning, while 公 (gōng) hints at the sound. Originally referring to the pine tree, whose loose, spreading needles led to the extended meaning 'loose' or 'relaxed'.
绑 — silk radical 纟 + 邦 (bāng)
绑 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The silk radical 纟 gives the meaning, since binding was traditionally done with cords or silk ropes. The right side 邦 (bāng) supplies the sound, slightly shifted to bǎng. The character thus means 'to tie' or 'to bind'.