湃

A phono-semantic compound:

水 — “water,” semantic component, indicating relation to waves, flowing, flooding.

拜 (bài / 배) — phonetic component, giving the pronunciation and a sense of repeated motion, which parallels the rhythmic beating of waves.

Thus the character conveys the idea of water striking repeatedly, like surf pounding a shore.

Most commonly seen in the compound 澎湃 (팽배) meaning:

- surging, roaring (of waves)

- overflowing, overwhelming (emotion, public opinion)

In modern Chinese, 湃 rarely appears alone, but survives strongly in the fixed phrase 澎湃.

The semantic connection between 拜 (bowing repeatedly) and 湃 (waves striking repeatedly) reflects classical Chinese phonetic construction methods.

Classical citations:

《廣雅》 (Guangya)

「湃，水聲也。」

“湃 means the sound of water.”

《文選》 (Wen Xuan)

「潮水澎湃。」

“The tidal waves surged and roared.”

湃 appears here in the compound 澎湃.

《詩經·大雅》 (The Book of Songs)

「洋洋兮若江海之澎湃。」

“Vast and mighty like the surging waves of great rivers and seas.”