照

• Physical Illumination & Reflection: To shine upon or cast light onto a surface (active); to reflect, as in water or mirrors (passive/reciprocal).
• Comparison & Alignment: To compare one thing against another to check for correspondence (verification); to act in accordance with or follow the pattern of a standard of reference.

• Transitive Verb: To illuminate [Object] or to compare/check [Object].
• Intransitive/Stative: To be reflected; to be bright.
• Prepositional/Adverbial: "According to" or "By way of," governing a noun phrase that serves as the reference point for the clause (e.g., 照...而...).

• 照 vs. 昭: While both relate to brightness, 昭 typically denotes a quality of luminosity, clarity, or being manifest (stative). 照 emphasizes the process—the act of lighting or the mechanism of reflection (active/procedural).
• Literal vs. Metaphorical Reflection: Distinguish between a physical mirror image and a "reflection" in the sense of a manifestation or an echo of another state.

// Tang-period reading: //jiɛ̀u (Fanqie: 之少).

• Semantic variant: U+70A4.