耤

A phono-semantic compound composed of:

耒 (plow) — associated with cultivated land, soil, and agricultural labor (semantic component)

昔 (formerly; past) — supplies pronunciation (phonetic component)

Originally, the character depicted the act of pressing or treading cultivated land, especially after plowing, to firm the soil.

Original sense "to tread upon cultivated ground." From this agricultural action, the meaning expanded metaphorically to stepping on people, dignity, or rights.

Core meanings:

- to trample

- to tread down

- to oppress (figurative)

- to violate or crush (literary)

耤 is rare in modern Korean, but appears in literary, historical, or classical contexts:

적압 (耤壓) — trampling oppression (archaic)

적멸 (耤滅) — destruction by trampling (literary)

민을 적하다 (民을 耤하다) — to oppress the people (classical prose)

耤 uniquely combines agricultural imagery + moral oppression. It is rare even in Classical Chinese, more common in Han and pre-Han prose. It almost absent from modern vernacular Chinese.

Preserved mainly in:

- historical commentary

- moral philosophy

- explanatory dictionaries

Comparison with similar characters:

耤 — trample (oppressive, crushing)

跆 — tread (firm, controlled contact)

踐 — trample (repeated stepping)

踏 — step (neutral)

蹂 — trample (violent destruction)

Related characters:

耒 — plow

耕 — to cultivate

踐 — to trample

蹂 — to ravage

壓 / 押 — to press, suppress

Classical-style citations:

Historical prose (classical style)

「強者耤弱者，國乃亂也」

“When the strong trample the weak, the state falls into chaos” — political-moral usage.

Confucian moral context

「君子不以勢耤人」

“The noble man does not trample others by means of power.”

Echoes Confucian ethics found in Analects-style discourse, though 耤 itself is rare in the Analects.

Agrarian metaphor (Han-style prose)

「耤田而後穀生」

“Only after the field is trodden does grain grow.”

Illustrates the original agricultural sense.