息

Compound ideograph:

自 (nose, breath) – indicating respiration, the act of inhaling/exhaling through the nose.

心 (heart, mind) – representing vitality and life.

Together they depict the life process of breathing, where breath sustains the beating of the heart. This became extended to mean “rest, respite, life, breath.”

Semantic range:

- to breathe, breath, respiration;

- to rest, repose, cease from work;

- to live, to be alive;

- offspring, son, child (e.g., 子息 sons and descendants);

- archaic: unit of distance, 1 息 = 30 li.

休息 (휴식) – rest, repose

消息 (소식) – news, tidings (lit. “traces of breath”)

子息 (자식) – child, offspring

自息 (자식) – one’s own child (literary)

出息 (출식) – future prospects, promise (lit. “breath going out”)

氣息 (기식) – breath, respiration

In Daoist and Buddhist contexts, 息 often refers to breath as a central element of meditation (調息 regulation of breathing).

In Confucian texts, 息 is sometimes used metaphorically for life-force, vitality, or the ceasing of activity.

The extension to “offspring” reflects the idea of life continuing through descendants.