發

• Kinetic Release and Dispatch: The shooting of an arrow or firing of a projectile. Also the issuance of formal communications, decrees, or military forces, emphasizing initiation from a center of authority.
• Manifestation and Unfolding: Movement from a latent state to a visible one, including botanical blooming, the sudden onset/outbreak of disease (e.g., 發病), or involuntary emotional outbursts.
• Initiation of Motion: Setting out on a journey (intransitive) or marking the transition from stasis to action.

• Transitive: To dispatch (a messenger), emit (light/sound), or fire (an arrow).
• Intransitive: To depart, break out, or bloom.
• Causative: Acting as a catalyst that triggers a subsequent event.

• vs. 送 (sòng): While both involve sending, 發 emphasizes the initiation of movement from authority; 送 focuses on accompanying or sending.
• vs. 出 (chū): 出 refers to general exit; 發 implies propulsion, suddenness, or intentional initiation.
• vs. 遣 (qiǎn): Both mean "dispatch," but 遣 often carries a nuance of banishment or sending someone away, whereas 發 focuses on deployment.
• vs. 開 (kāi): 開 is typically structural or static (opening a door), while 發 describes an active process of unfolding or bursting open.

• Diachronic shift: In early classical passages, kinetic senses predominate. Later texts developed the sense of "prosperity" or "expansion" (e.g., 發財), evolving from the botanical sense of blooming.
• Variant: Simplified variant U+53D1.

發 frequently encompasses both the command to move and the physical act of moving; the translator must determine from context whether the text refers to the authorization or the execution of the movement.