陽

A phono-semantic compound (with associative nuance):

阜 (“hill, mound”) provides the semantic element, referring to land.

昜 (yang, “sunlight, to rise”) provides the phonetic element.

As a whole, 陽 depicts the sun shining on the sunny side of a hill.

太陽 (태양) – the sun;

陽光 (양광) – sunlight, rays of the sun;

陽地 (양지) – sunny place, sunlit ground;

陽性 (양성) – positive, active;

陽明 (양명) – brightness, clarity (also linked to Neo-Confucian philosophy: Wang Yangming, 王陽明).

In Yin–Yang theory, 陽 represents the bright, active, masculine, and expansive principle, opposed to 陰 (dark, receptive, feminine).

Associated with the sun, heat, life, vigor, and the southern/sunny side of hills.

Its role in cosmology and medicine (陰陽五行, yin–yang and five phases) is central in East Asian thought.