風 (fēng)

Etymology

Originally written the same as 鳳 (phoenix) because the two characters sounded the same. Later the bottom part of the character was abbreviated to distinguish the two characters.

Shuowen Jiezi

《說文》：“風，八風也。東方曰明庶風；東南曰清明風；南方曰景風；西南曰涼風；西方曰閶闔風；西北曰不周風；北方曰廣莫風；東北曰融風。風動蟲生，故蟲八日而化。从虫，凡聲。凬，古文風。”

Components

• 凡 (sound)
• 鳳 (remnant) — Abbreviated remnant of 鳳, originally a pictograph of a mythical bird. Later reanalyzed as 虫.