手本
てほん · tehon · JLPT N1 · noun
model
📖✍️ 手 (hand) + 本 (book): the copybook you write from, so a model to follow
Calligraphy students copied strokes from a master's model book. That copybook sense widened to any model or pattern you follow.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.
本 — tree 木 + mark at base
本 is a pictograph of a tree (木) with a stroke at its base, marking the roots. From this 'root' meaning it extended to 'origin,' 'source,' and 'foundation.' In modern usage it also serves as a measure word for bound objects like books.