He (合)

The Chinese character "合," which is pronounced in pinyin as "he," boasts a long history as it appeared in inscriptions on oracle bones and on ancient bronze objects. In the Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters, Xu Shen stated: "The character '合' is made up of two parts: the upper part '亼' and the lower part '口' Both parts are its radicals." It originally meant closure, and later got extended meanings such as gathering, aggregating, connecting and integrating. 

In real life, "合" emphasizes the external result of a certain action, that is, getting integrated due to the action of gathering. This does stress an external process that different entities get together or get integrated. Such quotes as "Arrange the same rituals when the king meets dukes and princes" (合諸侯亦如之) from The Rites of Zhou (Zhou Li), and "A gentleman binds his kindred by showing kindness to them" (君子因睦以合族) from The Book of Rites (Li Ji) are notable examples. In brief, "合" represents a very good result, as well as an act that can bring peace and harmony. Such quotes as "acting in coordination with the inanimate objects in the universe with rites and music" (以禮樂合天地之化) from The Rites of Zhou, and "Take action when it is in line with the state's interests and stop otherwise" (合于利而動(dòng)，不合于利而止) from Master Sun's Art of War (Sun Zi) are all descriptions regarding whether people's actions are "合" or not. In those descriptions, "合" is the result of a certain action. 

合

“合”字在甲骨文、金文中已出現(xiàn)，可謂歷史悠久。按照許慎《說文解字》的解釋，“（合），合口也，從亼，從口”，所謂合口，本義為閉合、合攏，引申為多方聚合、聚集、聯(lián)絡(luò)、結(jié)合的意思。

在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中，“合”強(qiáng)調(diào)的是一種外在的行為結(jié)果，即因相聚而相合。這種聚集相合行為是直接指向外在的，強(qiáng)調(diào)不同個(gè)體之間的相合。比如，“合諸侯亦如之”（《周禮》），“君子因睦以合族”（《禮記》）。總之，這種“合”是一種非常好的結(jié)果，也是可以帶來和睦、和諧的一種行為。又如，“以禮樂合天地之化”（《周禮》），“合于利而動(dòng)，不合于利而止”（《孫子》）等，這些都是對于人的行為相合與否的論述，表明作為一種行為的結(jié)果。