脉络
mài luò · HSK 7
fabric
🩸🌿 脉 = blood vessel/pulse + 络 = net or web; together the vessel-network, literal or figurative structure
脉 is the pulse line that carries blood; 络 means to net, link, or web things together. Combined they name the branching vessel system of a body or leaf, and by extension the underlying threads that hold any structure together.
络 — silk radical 糹 + 各 (each, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the silk radical 糹 gives the meaning 'thread' or 'net', while 各 supplies the sound. Originally referring to fibers twisted into a net or web, it extended to mean 'network', 'to wind around', and by metaphor the body's meridians and connections.