再建
さいけん · saiken · JLPT N1 · noun
rebuilding
⛩️ 再 (sai) = again + 建 (ken) = build: build again, as with a shrine or temple
再 means again and 建 means build, so 再建 is rebuilding after loss. 建 also appears in 建設 (kensetsu, construction). Use it for a shrine or temple rebuilt after fire or damage.
再 — top 一 + 冂 frame + 土-like inner strokes
再 originally depicted a stack of fish or piled objects, suggesting accumulation or repetition. Over time it came to mean 'again' or 'once more,' emphasizing a second occurrence of an action. The modern form is stylized and no longer clearly pictographic.
建 — 廴 (stride radical) + 聿 (writing brush)
Originally depicted a hand holding a brush (聿) combined with the 廴 'stride/extend' radical, suggesting drawing out or laying down lines. From this came the meaning of setting up or establishing, as in marking out the foundations of a building. Today it broadly means to build, establish, or construct.