共和
きょうわ · kyouwa · JLPT N1 · noun
republicanism
🗳️ 共 (together) + 和 (harmony) = people working together in harmony
共 means shared or common, and 和 means harmony or peace. A republic is a state where power is shared by the people, and 共和 also means cooperation.
共 — 两手 (廾) holding up an object
共 originally depicted two hands raised together, lifting or offering something jointly. The ancient form showed a vessel or object held up by paired hands, conveying shared action. From 'lifting together' it shifted to mean 'together,' 'common,' or 'share.'
和 — grain 禾 (phonetic) + mouth 口
和 is a phono-semantic compound: 禾 (grain) gives the sound and 口 (mouth) hints at meaning, originally suggesting voices joining in agreement or song. From this it came to mean harmony, peace, and 'together with'. In Japanese it also became the native word for Japan itself.