Origin

This character combines a person radical on the left, which marks the character as relating to people or human activity, with the component 表 on the right that serves as a sound hint, roughly indicating the pronunciation "hyou". The meaning developed from the everyday activity of people carrying and handling bags or bales of goods, which was a common labor in historical Japan. Over time, the character came to specifically mean a bag or sack used for storing and transporting goods, and eventually became used as a counter word for counting such containers.