充

Considered a pictographic or pictophonetic-evolving character.

Early bronze inscriptions show:

A human figure with an expanded belly — expressing “fullness” or “being filled.”

Later, in clerical/regular script, it became abstracted into the current form.

Some paleographers interpret the original shape as a child wrapped in clothing, expanding outward — a metaphor for “filling out.”

충분 (充分) — sufficient, enough

충전 (充電) — to recharge, to load electricity

충실 (充實) — solid, substantial

충만 (充滿) — full, overflowing

충직 (充直) — loyal, upright (older term)

충임 (充任) — to fill a post / to serve as

These preserve the core sense: to fill, to supply, to make complete.

充 sometimes means “to serve as / to act as”:

充御 — to serve in the palace

This reflects “to fill a position.”

In some classical contexts, it can function like a strengthening prefix:

充國 — the entire nation

充耳 — completely (covering the ears)

Classical citations:

《論語·里仁》(Analects 4:5)

「 君子欲訥於言而敏於行。信近於義，言可復也。恭近於禮，遠恥辱也。充而不溢。」

“The noble person is slow of speech but quick in action… He is full (充) yet never overflows.”

充 here means “full, sufficient, but not excessive.”

《孟子·梁惠王上》(Mencius)

「 以五十步笑百步，則何如？曰：不可，充類也。」

“Is it acceptable for one who flees fifty paces to laugh at one who flees a hundred?” Mencius replied: “No, for they are of the same kind (充類).”

充類 means “belonging to the same category / essentially equivalent,” from the sense of “fully matching”.

《詩經·小雅·節南山》(Book of Odes)

「 彼君子兮，不素食兮。施于中谷，充滿其室。」

“That noble man does not eat idly. He labors in the central valley, and his house is filled with abundance.”

充 = “filled (with blessings/harvest).”

充 acts as a semantic base for several later characters that share the idea of “filling” or “supply”:

統 (thread-filled → governor/connection)

津 (ferry crossing, water filling/flowing)