生
saeng
Why 生 covers both being born and being raw
The picture Something that was not there pushes up through the soil and stands here for the first time. 生 is what pushes up into being; 死 is what goes out and is gone.
Where the picture shows up in 生
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the life that came up breathing
환자의 생명(生命)이 위험합니다.
hwan-ja-ui saeng-myeong-i wi-heom-ham-ni-da
The patient's life is in danger.
A chest rising and falling, pushing breath up and out
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the day it first came up
아이 생일(生日)이 다음 주예요.
a-i saeng-i-ri da-eum ju-ye-yo
My child's birthday is next week.
A calendar with a circle drawn around the date a baby first came into the world
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an event pushing up out of nowhere
오전에 사고가 발생(發生)했어요.
o-jeo-ne sa-go-ga bal-saeng-hae-sseo-yo
An accident happened this morning.
A quiet road where one accident suddenly shoots up out of the flat surface
Not only people are born — events are born too.
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still as it came up
이 채소는 생(生)으로 먹어도 돼요.
i chae-so-neun saeng-eu-ro meo-geo-do dwae-yo
You can eat this vegetable without cooking it.
A vegetable on a plate exactly as it left the field, never once touched by fire
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a person still growing up
딸이 올해 대학생(大學生)이 됐어요.
tta-ri ol-hae dae-hak-saeng-i dwae-sseo-yo
My daughter became a university student this year.
Someone holding a book whose height has not stopped yet, still stretching upward
All of it in one picture
生 is a single shoot breaking through soil. If the thing that came up is still breathing, that is a life; circle the day it first came up and you have a birthday. When an event rather than a person suddenly pushes up, an accident has occurred. If it is still exactly as it came up, never touched by fire, you eat it raw. And a person still shooting upward, not yet finished growing, is called a student.