黑白
hēibái · HSK 7
black and white
⚫⚪ 黑白 = 黑 black + 白 white; the two extremes also stand for right vs wrong
A literal compound: 黑 (black) plus 白 (white). Putting the two opposite shades side by side gives the figurative sense of moral opposites — right and wrong, good and bad.
黑 — top 里 over 灬 (fire) — soot from flame
Originally a pictograph of a person whose face was blackened by smoke from a fire, with the lower 灬 representing flames and the upper part showing soot stains. Over time the form was regularized into the modern shape, and the meaning broadened from 'soot-blackened' to the general color black.
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.'