朱

Ideogrammatic compound (later phonetic loan):

Originally composed of 木 (나무 목, “tree”) with a dot (丶) added to depict the trunk or core of a tree, representing the “main pillar.”

This was a simple ideograph expressing “wooden pole, pillar.”

Later, by phonetic loan, the meaning shifted from “wooden pillar” to “red” or “vermilion,” likely due to the reddish color of cinnabar pigments used for coating wood.

When 朱 came to mean “red,” the original sense of “tree trunk” was preserved in the derived character 株 (그루 주), formed by adding the 木 radical to restore the semantic meaning of “tree base, stump.”

주홍(朱紅) — scarlet, bright red

주사(朱砂) — cinnabar

주색(朱色) — vermilion color

주필(朱筆) — red writing brush

주문(朱文) — red seal impression or carved characters filled with red ink

In ancient China, 朱砂 (주사) referred to cinnabar, a bright red mineral used as pigment and in Daoist alchemy.

The color 朱色 (주색) was considered sacred and royal — used in palace gates, official seals, and ceremonial garments.

朱筆 (주필), the “red brush,” was traditionally used by emperors or teachers for corrections and authoritative notes.

The surname 朱 (Zhu) is common in Chinese (e.g., Ming dynasty’s founder 朱元璋 Zhū Yuánzhāng).

Cultural Symbolism:

朱門酒肉臭，路有凍死骨 (“Behind vermilion gates, meat and wine rot; on the road lie the frozen bones of the poor.”) — Du Fu, contrasting the luxury of the rich with the suffering of the people.

朱雀 (주작) — the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Symbols of Chinese constellations, representing the south, summer, and fire element (火).

株 (그루 주) — tree stump, base; derived to restore the original “tree” meaning.

硃 (주) — variant form meaning “cinnabar,” sometimes used interchangeably with 朱.

誅 (주) — “to punish, execute,” sharing phonetic component but different semantics.