公 | gōng

In Mandarin Chinese, 公 (Pinyin: gōng 🔊) is an extremely common word with many meanings. As an adjective, it can mean “public”, “communal”, “general”, “international”, “fair” and, when applied to animals, “male”:

• 公 + 牛 = 公牛 (gōngniú 🔊): bull
• 公 + 羊 = 公羊 (gōngyáng 🔊): ram
• 公 + 鸡 = 公鸡 (gōngjī): cockerel, rooster

Could it be that “male” is a “general” kind of animal, as opposed to a female animal which is special?

As a noun, 公 can mean “official business”, “authorities” or “duke”. It is also used as a SI prefix kilo- as in 公斤 (gōngjīn) “kilogram” and 公里 (gōnglǐ) “kilometre”. 公公 (gōnggong) means “father-in-law” (more precisely, husband’s father).

There are several theories of this character’s origin. According to Wiktionary,

The traditional interpretation as given by Han Feizi is that 公 is a compound of 八 [= 背 (“to deviate; opposite”)] and 厶 [original form of 私 (“individual; private”)], i.e. the opposite of “individual”; public. This theory is supported by Sun Yirang and Qiang Kaiyun, despite the somewhat different shape of the top component from 厶.

This is disputed in modern times by Gao Hongjin, who thinks that the 八 on top stands for 分 (“to divide; to distribute”) and the bottom round component of 口 symbolises the general object. 公 thus represents “equally dividing resources so that they are communal”.

Another theory put forth by Zhu Fangpu is that 公 is a pictogram, being the original form of 瓮 (“a wide-mouthed round-bottomed jar”), and later borrowed for the meaning of “public”.

More photos of sea glass @ Shutterstock.