革 gé leather
leather; animal hide; to reform
How it came to be
A hide pegged out flat to dry: the head at the top, the two sides stretched wide, and the tail at the bottom. It is the skin after the work has been done to it.
How it is used
- Bound character with two unrelated meaning branches: reform/change (改革 gǎigé "reform," 革命 gémìng "revolution," 变革 biàngé "transformation," 革新 géxīn "innovate") and leather (皮革 pígé "leather").
- 改革 and 革命 are heavyweight words in Chinese political and economic discourse, used for large-scale, historic change rather than everyday small adjustments.