白领
bái lǐng · HSK 6
business person
👔 白 (white) + 领 (collar) = white collar = office worker
Compound of 白 bái 'white' and 领 lǐng 'collar/neck'. A direct calque of English 'white-collar', contrasting with 蓝领 lánlǐng 'blue-collar'. The 领 character originally meant neck, later extending to collar and 'to lead'.
白 — pictograph; resembles 日 (sun) with a stroke on top
白 is generally considered a pictograph, traditionally explained as depicting the sun rising with a ray of light above it, hence the meaning 'white' or 'bright.' Some scholars instead see it as a drawing of a thumbnail or an acorn. From 'bright' it extended to 'clear,' 'plain,' and 'to state plainly.'
领 — 令 (command, phonetic) + 页 (head)
A semantic-phonetic compound. 页 (head/page) gives the meaning, originally referring to the neck or collar — the part connecting the head to the body. 令 supplies the sound. From 'neck/collar' it extended to 'lead, guide, receive,' since the neck leads the body.