破产
pòchǎn · HSK 4
go bankrupt
💸 破 = break/ruin + 产 = property/assets → break the assets = go bankrupt
破 (pò) means to break or ruin; 产 (chǎn) means property, assets, or production. Together: your property is broken — bankruptcy. Same 产 appears in 生产 (produce) and 财产 (property).
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'
产 — 产 = 立 (stand) + 厂 (cliff/factory)
Originally written 產, depicting birth or production, with 生 (to be born/grow) as the semantic element and 彥 reduced as phonetic. The simplified form 产 keeps the top portion only. Its core meaning shifted from 'giving birth' to broader senses of 'produce, output, property.'