破

Phono-semantic compound:

石 (돌 석) — semantic component, indicating something related to stone or hardness.

皮 (가죽 피) — phonetic component, providing the sound pa and nuance of tearing or stripping.

Originally, 破 meant “to crack or split stone.”

Because stone is the hardest material in early societies, the character soon extended to mean breaking or destroying any hard object — then later abstractly, defeating, violating, or ruining.

The combination of 石 (stone) and 皮 (skin, outer layer) visually suggests breaking through a surface layer, which perfectly captures the original semantic core: to rupture what was intact.

파괴 (破壞) — to destroy

파열 (破裂) — rupture, explosion

파산 (破産) — bankruptcy

파기 (破棄) — cancellation, annulment

타파 (打破) — to overcome or break down

파진 (破陣) — to break through enemy lines

파악 (破握) — to grasp clearly (metaphorical sense of breaking open understanding)

In modern Korean, 破 functions both literally (“to break”) and figuratively (“to nullify,” “to overcome,” “to violate”).

The root sense of “rupture” extends to social, moral, and conceptual contexts — as in 구습타파 (舊習打破) “to break old habits.”

In early Chinese texts, 破 was used to describe breaking physical barriers — walls, armor, or enemy formations:

「攻城破國。」

“Attack the city and break the state.” — Zuo Zhuan (左傳)

Later, its meaning broadened to metaphorical defeat or disintegration:

破法 (to violate law or custom);

破除 (to eliminate superstition or ignorance).

In Tang and Song literature, 破 appeared in idioms expressing spiritual or artistic transcendence, such as “破我執” (“to break the ego-clinging” in Buddhist philosophy).

Cultural & symbolic notes:

In East Asian thought, 破 symbolizes both destruction and transformation.

To “break” something (破) often implies the necessary act of dismantling falsehood or attachment to reach a higher understanding — a recurring theme in Buddhist and Confucian philosophy.

「不破不立」

“Without breaking, there is no establishing.”

(A classic idiom meaning that new creation requires the destruction of the old.)

In Zen and Daoist texts, 破 is associated with enlightenment — the breaking of illusion (破妄), or the shattering of the self (破我執).

In martial and artistic disciplines, it marks the moment of mastery — when one transcends limitation through decisive breaking.

Symbolic interpretation:

破 embodies both end and beginning — the necessary break that allows transformation.

Its form combines stone (endurance) with skin (surface) — the act of penetrating what seems solid.

In this sense, 破 carries philosophical depth: to break something false, outdated, or confining is to open a path to renewal.

「破而後立，毀而後成。」

“Only after breaking can one stand; only after destruction can there be completion.”

Thus, 破 transcends mere destruction — it signifies creative rupture, the dynamic principle that clears the way for truth and growth.