# Reverse Engineering of Hanja \u2014 The Essence of Electronic Engineering Seen Through Etymology<\/p>\n
**Author:** WU HANQING ## Abstract<\/p>\n This paper reverse-engineers core concepts that form the foundation of electronic engineering through the etymology of Hanja (\u6f22\u5b57). It examines the historical and physical cognitive processes underlying cutting-edge IT technologies. From oracle-bone script in antiquity, through metaphors of the Industrial Revolution, to today\u2019s closed-loop systems, the source code of disciplinary knowledge is often encoded in Sino-Korean terms. We argue that Hanja is not a mere symbol but a substrate (\u57fa\u76e4) that has accumulated human cognitive history.<\/p>\n ## 1. Introduction: A Metaphor of Success Imprinted in a Name<\/p>\n Before exploring the essence of scholarship, it is useful to examine the meaning of naming. In the author's name \"Oh Han-gyeong,\" the character for Gyeong implies a heart that goes to offer congratulations \u2014 the production of a success event. With the posture of an engineer who continuously produces results, this work scans the etymology of the disciplinary vocabulary encountered in daily life and in the laboratory.<\/p>\n ## 2. The Metaphor of Electricity and the Industrial Revolution<\/p>\n At many universities the department \u201cElectronic Engineering\u201d is commonly called \u201cElectrical and Electronic Engineering.\u201d Does \u201celectric\u201d denote a device, or a flow of energy?<\/p>\n Historically, the term reflects the analogy to steam: the character \u6c23 (qi) denotes gases\/fluids, and steam as the core motive power of the Industrial Revolution led to the analogy between steam in pipes and invisible energy in wires. Roughly:<\/p>\n - Qi (\u6c23, Flow): the flow of invisible energy (e.g., electrical engineering). ## 3. The Oldest Record of Physical Observation: Reverse Engineering of \u201cElectricity\u201d<\/p>\n Reverse-engineering the character for electricity reveals a notable fact: the traditional form \u201c\u96fb\u201d combines the components for rain (\u96e8) above and \u7533 below, evoking storm clouds and lightning discharge. The first human encounters with electrical phenomena were natural lightning events, not controlled laboratory currents; the oracle-bone forms thus record an early physical observation.<\/p>\n ## 4. Deep Scanning of Core Vocabulary in Electronic Engineering<\/p>\n We examine core IT concepts that compose electronic engineering and relate them to Hanja definitions (see NAVER Hanja Dictionary$^{[1]}$).<\/p>\n ### 4.1 The Smallest Unit of Matter: Electron (\u96fb\u5b50)<\/p>\n - Composition: electric + \u5b50 ### 4.2 Potential and Voltage (\u96fb\u4f4d, \u96fb\u58d3)<\/p>\n - Electric potential: positional energy of a charge in an electric field. ### 4.3 Continuous Flow: Current (\u96fb\u6d41)<\/p>\n - Current: continuous movement of charge; magnitude given by charge per unit time (ampere, A). ### 4.4 Circuit (\u56de\u8def) and Information (\u60c5\u5831)<\/p>\n - Circuit: a connected path through which current flows; the closed-loop geometry is central to system behavior. ### 4.5 The Foundation of Everything: Substrate (\u57fa\u76e4)<\/p>\n - Substrate \/ circuit board: the physical base on which components sit and signals are exchanged; it forms the backbone of electronic systems.<\/p>\n ## 5. Conclusion: A Humanitas Lens that Increases the Era's Resolution<\/p>\n Hanja (\u6f22\u5b57) is not a mere symbol but a substrate where human cognitive history has accumulated.<\/p>\n From oracle-bone records of electricity to Industrial Revolution pipe metaphors and modern chips, reverse-engineering Hanja reveals that humanities and engineering are products of related cognitive processes.<\/p>\n ### References (\u53c3\u8003 \u6587\u737b)<\/p>\n [1] NAVER Hanja Dictionary (entries: Electron (\u96fb\u5b50), Potential (\u96fb\u4f4d), Voltage (\u96fb\u58d3), Current (\u96fb\u6d41), Circuit (\u56de\u8def), Information (\u60c5\u5831), Substrate (\u57fa\u76e4))<\/p>\n [2] Oh Han-gyeong, \"Reverse Engineering of Hanja - The Essence of Electronic Engineering Seen Through Etymology\", Kyung Hee University Presentation Material, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reverse Engineering of Hanja \u2014 The Essence of Electronic Engineering Seen Through Etymology\r\n\r\n**Author:** WU HANQING\r\n**Affiliation:** Kyung Hee University, School of Electronic Information Engineering\r\n**Data Download:**\r\n[1] Hanja_Reverse_Engineering.pptx\r\n[2] Hanja_Reverse_Engineering.pdf\r\n[3] \u6f22\u5b57\uc758 \u9006\u8a2d\u8a08 - \u5b57\u6e90\uc73c\ub85c \ubcf4\ub294 \u96fb\u5b50\u5de5\u5b78\uc758 \u672c\u8cea.pdf\r\n\r\nAbstract\r\n\r\nThis paper reverse-engineers core concepts that form the foundation of electronic engineering through the etymology of Hanja (\u6f22\u5b57). It examines the historical and physical cognitive processes underlying cutting-edge IT technologies. From oracle-bone script in antiquity, through metaphors of the Industrial Revolution, to today\u2019s closed-loop systems, the source code of disciplinary knowledge is often encoded in Sino-Korean terms. ...","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"emotion":"","emotion_color":"","title_style":"","license":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[153,143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-presentations","category-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":567,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wuhanqing.cn\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n**Affiliation:** Kyung Hee University, School of Electronic Information Engineering
\n**Data Download:**
\n[1] Hanja_Reverse_Engineering.pptx<\/a>
\n[2] Hanja_Reverse_Engineering.pdf<\/a>
\n[3] \u6f22\u5b57\uc758 \u9006\u8a2d\u8a08 - \u5b57\u6e90\uc73c\ub85c \ubcf4\ub294 \u96fb\u5b50\u5de5\u5b78\uc758 \u672c\u8cea.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n
\n- Device (\u5668): visible hardware and appliances.<\/p>\n
\n- Dictionary: an elementary particle carrying negative charge that orbits the atomic nucleus.
\n- Physical property: mass $9.1090 \\times 10^{-31} \\text{kg}$ ($\\approx 0.511 \\text{MeV}$); symbol $e$.
\n- Engineering meaning: the character \u5b50 denotes a small fundamental unit; lightning\u2019s energy maps metaphorically to electrons in the microscopic world.<\/p>\n
\n- Voltage: the difference in potential between two points (unit: V); can be intuitively understood as a pressure that drives charge.<\/p>\n
\n- The Industrial Revolution steam analogy helps visualize flow through conductors.<\/p>\n
\n- Information: measurable knowledge or state conveyed by signals; in engineering, electrons circulating in circuits transmit reliable data.<\/p>\n