行事
ぎょうじ · gyouji · JLPT N2 · noun
event
🎉 行 = carry out + 事 = matter: a planned matter carried out, i.e. an event
行 means to go or carry out, and 事 means matter or affair. Together they name a matter that is carried out, covering both a scheduled event and the function something performs.
行 — crossroads pictograph (left 彳 + right 亍)
行 originally pictured a four-way crossroads in oracle bone script, with two paths meeting. From 'road' it extended to 'walk, go, travel,' and then to 'a row, line' or 'business firm' (read háng). The two halves 彳 and 亍 are the split sides of that ancient crossroads.
事 — hand 又 holding a banner/tablet on a pole
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) grasping a pole or ceremonial banner used by an official, depicting the act of conducting court business. From this it came to mean 'affair, matter, business, service.' It shares an ancient origin with 史 (scribe) and 吏 (official).