前
jeon
Why 'moving forward' and 'long ago' are the same character
The picture The side your toes point at — the way you move, and also where the stretch already passed is laid out. 前 is the toes' side, the stretch that comes first; 後 is the back's side, the stretch that comes later.
Where the picture shows up in 前
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the stretch before the noon mark
오전(午前)에 오세요.
o-jeo-ne o-se-yo
Please come in the morning.
On the line of a day, the stretch left of the noon mark, the sun still climbing
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the stretch laid before now
이전(以前)에 뵌 적 있어요.
i-jeo-ne boen jeok i-sseo-yo
We've met before.
A finger pressing the pages left of today's square on a calendar, already flipped past
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pushing toward the toes
차를 조금 전진(前進)시키세요.
cha-reul jo-geum jeon-jin-si-ki-se-yo
Pull the car forward a bit.
A whole car shoved a hand's width in the direction its nose points
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the earlier of two halves
전반(前半)에 두 골 넣었어요.
jeon-ba-ne du gol neo-eo-sseo-yo
We scored twice in the first half.
A match cut in two, with marks only on the half that comes first
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the instant the toes touch the line
지금 출발 직전(直前)이에요.
ji-geum chul-bal jik-jeo-ni-e-yo
We're about to leave right now.
Toes touching the start line with not one step taken across it yet
All of it in one picture
前 is the side the toes point at. Push the body that way and you are advancing; on the line of a day, the stretch lying before the noon mark is the morning. The stretch laid out before the mark you stand on now is 'before', and of a match cut in two, the part that comes first is the first half. And the instant your toes touch a line without crossing it yet is 'just before'.