商業
しょうぎょう · shougyou · JLPT N2 · noun
business
💼 商 = trade + 業 = business/work, so 商業 = trade-business: commerce
The first kanji 商 means trade or merchant, and the second 業 means work or industry. Joined, they name commerce as the industry of trading goods.
商 — 亠 lid + 丷 + 冏 window/enclosure
In oracle bone script 商 depicted a raised platform or altar-like structure, and it served as the name of the Shang dynasty and its capital region. The modern components are a late simplification of that pictograph and carry no separate meaning. The sense 'trade, merchant' arose later, traditionally linked to Shang people who travelled to buy and sell after their dynasty fell.