養

A phono-semantic compound:

食 (“food, to eat”) - provides the semantic element, indicating nourishment;

羊 (yang, “sheep”) - provides the phonetic element.

Strongly associated with the Confucian virtue of supporting and caring for parents (부양, 扶養).

Common in compounds:

養育 (양육) - to bring up, to rear;

扶養 (부양) - to support (family, dependents);

教養 (교양) - cultivation, refinement, manners;

保養 (보양) - to preserve health, recuperation;

營養 (영양) - nutrition;

療養 (요양) - medical care, convalescence.

In Confucianism, 養 is directly tied to 孝 (filial piety).

The Classic of Filial Piety (孝經) teaches that to nourish (養) one’s parents with food and care is the beginning of filial piety.

True 養 goes beyond material support, requiring respect, reverence, and moral cultivation.

Thus, 養 in the moral sense means not only feeding or caring for the body but also cultivating virtue in oneself and one’s family.

This concept links to other core characters:

孝 (효) - filial piety;

祖 (조) - ancestor, with ritual veneration;

親 (친) - parents, kin.

In Traditional Chinese writing, the upper component ⺷ is written with its vertical stroke and diagonal stroke connected.