統

It is a phono-semantic compound, composed of:

糸 (silk, thread) – semantic element, representing threads and connections;

充 (chung, “to fill, to supply”) – phonetic element.

Originally, 統 referred to the beginning thread or lead thread. From the sense of one thread leading others, it developed metaphorical meanings of system, order, leadership, and command.

Across East Asia it remains a core morpheme in vocabulary relating to leadership, organization, tradition, and statistical/systemic order.

통일 (統一) – unification

통계 (統計) – statistics (lit. “to unify and calculate”)

전통 (傳統) – tradition (lit. “transmitted system”)

대통 (大統) – great leadership, succession (also used in classical/Confucian texts)

계통 (系統) – system, lineage, category

통솔 (統率) – command, leadership

It also historically referred to a small administrative district (통) in Korean local governance (as in 면·통·리).