不正
ふせい · fusei · JLPT N3 · noun
injustice
⚖️ 不正 = not + correct: something not right is unfair
不 (fu) means not and 正 (sei) means right or correct, the same 正 as in 正解, the correct answer. When something is not right, it is unfair. Fusei is also used for cheating or fraud, as in 不正行為, wrongdoing.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.
正 — one 一 + stop 止
Originally an ideograph showing a foot (止) advancing toward a target line (一), meaning 'to march straight toward' a city or goal. From this came the senses 'upright,' 'correct,' and 'proper.' The military sense survives in 征 (to campaign), which took over the original 'march' meaning.