■ radical
lì
government official
How it’s built
The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding some object. There are various theories about theories about what this object is, including a writing utensil, a container for official documents, a flag, or a hunting tool. These four characters were originally all written the same, but later marks were added to distinguish them.
◎
component
characterless component — Unkown object. Possibly a writing utensil, a container for official documents, a flag, or a hunting tool.
又
iconic
(hand); again — Depicts a hand.
Through the ages