卿

It is an ideogrammic compound, depicting two people (卩卩) kneeling in front of food (食), symbolizing attendants or officials in service.

In oracle bone inscriptions through bronze inscriptions (갑골문 ~ 금문), 卿 shared the same form as 鄕 (향, “village”).

From the small Seal Script (小篆) onward, the two characters were differentiated into distinct forms.

대신경 (大臣卿) – high-ranking minister

사卿 (寺卿) – head of a government office in old Chinese/Korean bureaucratic systems

시경 (侍卿) – attendant minister

In Classical Chinese texts, often used as a polite title in direct address (경, 그대).