原

Formed as a compound of pictographic elements:

厂 (“cliff, slope”) depicts a rocky ledge or hillside.

泉 (“spring, fountain”) depicts water bubbling up from between rocks.

Combined, the character originally signified a place where water emerges from a slope, hence “source” or “origin.”

Semantic range:

- hill, slope, plain (언덕, 들판);

- source, fountainhead (근원, 원천);

- by extension: origin, cause, foundation (본래, 본원).

원인 (原因) — cause, reason

원래 (原來) — originally, by nature

원본 (原本) — original text/document

원칙 (原則) — principle, rule

평원 (平原) — plain, flatland

기원 (起原 / 祈願) — origin / prayer (different homophones)

In Confucian and Daoist texts, 原 often implies the root or fundamental source of things, linking it with concepts of natural order and origin. It expresses both physical beginnings (like a spring) and metaphysical foundations (the essence of things).

In Buddhism, too, 原 may signify the original state or the underlying ground of existence before delusion.