畔

By extension: boundary, limit, side; also used metaphorically for “to oppose, to rebel” (as in 背畔 — to turn one’s back and revolt).

Phono-semantic compound:

田 (밭 전) — semantic component, indicates a field or cultivated land.

半 (반 반) — phonetic component, provides the sound bàn / ban and conveys the notion of division or separation.

Thus, 畔 originally depicted “a dividing line in a field”, i.e., the raised ridge or boundary marking separation between plots of land.

In Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「畔，田界也。从田，半聲。」

“畔 means the boundary of a field; composed of 田 and phonetic 半.”

河畔 (하반) — riverside; bank of a river

湖畔 (호반) — lakeside; shore of a lake

田畔 (전반) — field ridge; edge of farmland

背畔 (배반) — to betray or rebel against (literally “to turn one’s back on the boundary”)

In early Chinese texts, 畔 appears both in literal and figurative senses.

From the Book of Odes (詩經 · 小雅 · 車攻):

「薄伐玁狁，于彼田畔。」

“They lightly attacked the Xianyun, there by the borders of the fields.” — Here, 畔 literally denotes the edge or boundary of cultivated land.

By the Warring States period, 畔 also came to mean “to oppose, to revolt” — as boundaries and separations took on moral or political connotations (crossing the line → rebellion).

Example (Zuozhuan · Xi Year 28):

「諸侯有畔者。」

“There were feudal lords who rebelled.”

Thus, the character evolved from denoting a physical field boundary to expressing the abstract idea of division or defiance.

It stands as a vivid example of how spatial boundaries in early agrarian life shaped the moral and political vocabulary of classical Chinese thought.