A friend, companion, peer. Now composed of two moons; but it has nothing to do with 月 yuè, the radical of classification in Kang Hsi, but comes from an ancient primitive fèng representing the tail of the phoenix, and by extension meaning the bird itself, now written 凤. The character 朋 was then changed in pronunciation to péng, and taken to mean friend, because the phoenix draws all other birds after it; or two birds together, therefore friend. (Chalfant) 鹏 péng, was a fabulous bird, the roc, from which the 朋 may have denved its pronunciation of péng.
fèng representing the tail of the phoenix, and by extension meaning the bird itself, now written 凤. The character 朋 was then changed in pronunciation to péng, and taken to mean friend, because the phoenix draws all other birds after it; or two birds together, therefore friend. (Chalfant) 鹏 péng, was a fabulous bird, the roc, from which the 朋 may have denved its pronunciation of péng.
Leave a Reply