「放生」 to free animals/ to free captive animals

Before we talk about this word "放生," let's look at the photo below.

http://9gag.com/gag/a3YZGZ5?ref=fb.s

請勿放生 The translation for this phrase is "Do not animals." (What?) 

Let's look at it again character by character.

請 = please

勿 = do not

放 = put; place; let go; set free

生 = life

A rough word-by-word translation would tell you that it means "please do not let go of life." What the sign is missing is the meaning of 「放」.

「放生」together makes up a meaning, which is "to free animals." 

• 「放」here means "to let go,"  as in the case of :

             放手！     ( Let go of my hand! )
             放開我！ ( Let go of me! )

 

• 「生」here means 「生命」, that is "life."

 In my interpretation, 「放生」can be read as 「放開那個動物，讓牠過自己的生活。」 ( Let go of that animal. Let it lead its own life.)

What's yours?

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Embarrassingly enough, the sign is made by NTU, my alma mater.