order, determine, life

命 is composed of 亼(gathering mouth), 口(mouth), and 卩(kneeling person). 亼 is the pictograph of a mouth facing downward as if giving orders, while 卩 depicts a person kneeling in submission, conveying the idea of someone issuing instructions to an obedient subordinate; the additional 口(mouth) emphasizes repeating or uttering the command once more. Thus 命 means to issue an order, to command, or to determine. The ancients believed that a person’s life, death, and health were not within human control but entirely subject to commands issued from Heaven above; therefore 命 also came to mean life.