Foundations

shěng

province
少shǎo + 目
few + eye

the further the province is from Beijing, the fewer the eyes on them

wén

literature, *gentleman farmer
亠 + 乂
top hat + sheaf

top hat on a literate gentleman farmer

hǎi

sea
氵 + 每měi
water + every

“Water, water everywhere…” and not a drop to drink in Shanghai

nèi

internal
冂 + 人
hood + person

introvert with their hood up

zhōu

state [n.]
丶丶丶 + 川
3 drops + stream

drops of land between the streams are the states

a dotted line through a river on a map showing the border between states

níng

calm [adj.]
宀 + 丁dīng
house + nail

house is nailed securely to keep it calm in a storm

jiāng

Yangtze
氵 + 工
water + I-beam/work

Yangtze is a working river OR 3 Gorges Dam built of I-beams

xiā

shrimp
虫 + 下xià
insect + below

insect that lives below the ocean surface

bǎo

treasure [n.]
宀 + 玉
house + jade

Home is where they keep their treasure, but the greatest treasure comes in the news that they will be welcoming a 宝贝 bǎobèi baby!

happiness
礻 + 畐fú
Eastern altar + rich man

Dear Ancestors, I would like the full-belly and full-wallet kind of happiness this year.

region
匚 + 乂
box + sheaf/X

mark boxes on a map with X’s indicating different regions

tāng

soup
氵 + 2yáng
water + piglet

piglets floating in the water of the soup

qiān

thousand
丿 + 十
slash + ten

nán

south
十 + 冂 + ¥
ten/needle + hood + RMB

gang in the south: drugs, hoods, money

zhī

offshoot, *branch
十shí + 又
ten/needle + right hand

ten fingers of your hands are the branches

xìng

good fortune
土 + ¥
soil + RMB

What good fortune! Found ¥ buried under the soil.

lán

orchid
丷 + 三
horns + three

picture of an orchid with two unopened blooms at top and three flowers below

pǐn

goods
口 + 口 + 口
mouth + mouth + mouth

picture a pile of goods that an average family eats in a year

chǎo

stir-fry
火 + 少shǎo
fire + few

just need fire and a few tools OR just high fire for a few minutes

lake
氵 + 胡hú
water + goatee

you grow a goatee at the lake

huá

splendor
化huà + 十
transform + ten/needle/cross

transformed into something splendid by multiplying by ten or shooting up or accepting the cross

jiǔ

liquor
氵 + 酉
water + whiskey bottle

it's not water in the whiskey bottle

*rich man
一 + 口 + 田
one + mouth + field

greedy rich man: one mouth eats the whole field

derived from 富 fù wealthy

shàng

above
卜 + 一
magic wand + floor

magic wand hovering above the floor

xià

below
一 + 卜
ceiling + magic wand

magic wand hovering below the ceiling

zài

at
𠂇 + 丨 + 土
by one's side + stick + soil

 Brigham Young, first governor of Utah, puts his stick in the soil and declares the Salt Lake Valley as “the place” for settlement.

míng

bright
日 + 月
sun + moon

The sun and the moon are the two bright things in the sky.

tiān

heavens
一 + 大
ceiling + large

large person grows and grows until his head reaches the ceiling and then the heavens

bái

white
丶 + 日
drop + sun

a drop of sunshine: white light

as a component: “白字旁”

bǎi

hundred
一 + 白bái
one + white

hair turns white at 100

Japanese call age 99 your "white year" because 100-1(百-一)=99(白)

西

west, *Wild West
酉 - 一
whiskey bottle - “whiskey”

empty whiskey bottle on the streets of the Wild West

yuán

beginning, *Adam & Eve
二 + 儿
two + human legs

The Bible starts with the creation story: “In the beginning…” and tells of the first two humans, Adam and Eve.

wàn

ten thousand
一 + 勹
one + bound up

the Chinese bind up big numbers at 10,000

fāng

direction, *compass
丶 + 万
drop + ten thousand

ten thousand directions on a compass, moves by a drop

as a component: ”方字旁“

can [aux. v.]
丁 + 口
nail + mouth

“I think I can, I think I can” Little Engine spitting nails

oneself, *nose
丶 + 目
drop + eye

your nose is the drop between your eyes; Chinese people refer to themselves by pointing at their nose

jiāo

mingle
亠 + 父
top hat + father

fathers disguised as top hats mingling at a party

nán

male
田 + 力
field + power/*muscle

males are more field power

guǒ

fruit
田 + 木
field + tree

fruit orchard: a field of trees

alternatively: 日+木 sun + tree, need sun to ripen the fruit on the trees

hǎo

good
女 + 子
woman + child

woman with her child is good

yǒu

possess
𠂇 + 月
by one's side + body part/moon

you possess the body parts by your side  

Despicable Me villain wants to possess the moon

John Swigert Jr. was one of the astronauts on the Apollo 13 moon mission.

wài

outside
夕 + 卜
evening + magic wand

outside in the evening can be magic

yào

want [v.]
西 + 女
Wild West + woman

poster in the Wild West Wanted: Women

Western women want it all: family, career, etc.

miàn

face-to-face
百 + 目
hundred + eye

face-to-face interview: a hundred eyeballs on you

面 also means "noodles": picture a hundred eyeballs tossed in your noodles

fish [n.]
⺈ + 田 + 一
mask + field + floor

picture of a fish

fish while tending fields (which in many parts of China were traditionally divided by water), a fish on the floor of a boat

měi

every
𠂉 + 母mǔ
lying down + mother

every mother needs a nap

shí

time
日 + 寸
sun + thumb

primitive sundial: holding up your thumb to see its shadow and tell the time

gāo

tall
亠 + 口 + 冂 + 口
top hat + mouth + hood + mouth

This is a tall man costume with someone on someone else’s shoulders. The guy on top wears a top hat to make him even taller. The guy on the bottom wears a hood to cover his face.

shū

book
𠃌 + 𠃌 + 丨 + 丶
coat hook + coat hook + stick + drop

hang your book bag on the coat tree

zhān

tell fortunes
卜 + 口
magic wand + mouth

jīng

capital
亠 + 口 + 小
top hat + mouth + small

the capital is where the small people go to talk to the top hats

Buddhist temple
土 + 寸
soil + thumb

"We honor the memory of our spiritual leader Sì, who was the first to have a vision of this temple that we will build in his honor. He used his thumb to make many small models of the temple out of soil during his meditation exercises." (Buddhist Temple)

To learn more about Buddhist temples, look up these in Wikipedia: 白马寺、云居寺、少林寺、悬空寺、法门寺、灵谷寺、大佛寺、龙华寺

harmony
禾hé + 口
grain + mouth

whole grains in your mouth = (digestive) harmony

when grain fills the mouths of the populations, there is harmony

chū

exit [v.]
山 + 山
mountain + mountain

exit through a pass between two mountains

yún

cloud
二 + 厶
two + monument

two stripes of clouds over a monument

alternatively: one + Great Wall, one pollution cloud over the Great Wall

tóu

head [n.], *bust
冫 + 大
ice + large dog

two hairs coming off the head of a large dog

a frozen bust of a large dog

a large person with two arrows pointing at her head

guó

country
囗 + 玉
enclose + jade

country’s wealth (jade) is enclosed, crown jewels protected

měi

beautiful
羊 + 大
sheep + large

in pastoral societies, nothing is more beautiful than a large sheep

yòng

utilize, *Little Red Riding Hood
冂 + 1
hood + bouquet

Little Red utilizes her hood every day when she is picking bouquets.

diǎn

spot [n.]
占 + 灬
tell fortunes + cooking fire

fortune teller looks into cooking fire, then looks away and sees spots: uses these to tell your fortune (Macbeth)

dōng

east, *rickshaw
车 + 小
vehicle + small

small vehicle of the east is a rickshaw

shǎo

few
小xiǎo + 丿
small + slash

take a small thing and slash it into a few

chuáng

bed
广guǎng + 木
cave + tree

"You have a seat 座 and a mat 席 in your cave, but you decide to upgrade to a bed and bring in a tree trunk." (Hunter Gatherer)

suǒ

place [n.]
户 + 斤
door + axe

When you do finally reach your destination, you’ll know the place because there will be an axe by the door.

ground [n.]
土 + 也
soil + scorpion

scorpion lives in the soil or ground

nǎi

milk [n.]
女 + 乃nǎi
woman + fist

woman squeezes with fist and gets milk

jiā

add
力 + 口
muscle + mouth

add muscle to what your mouth says (do the thing you say)

you add muscle to the story (exaggerate) with your mouth

chicken
又 + 鸟
right hand + bird

using right hand to herd chickens back into their yard

holding a chicken drumstick in your right hand

bāo

wrap [v.]
勹bāo + 已
bound up + snakeskin

package wrapped or bound up in snakeskin

shé

tongue
千 + 口
thousand + mouth

a thousand tongues wagging

a picture of a tied tongue

as a component: “舌字旁”

xiān

first
牛 + 儿
cow + human legs

human leading a cow from behind, cow comes first

cow with human legs: that's a first!

tái

stage
厶 + 口
monument + mouth

at the mouth of the monument, they’ve set up a stage

huà

transform
亻 + 匕
persona + person sitting

standing person transforms into a sitting person, maybe in a magic show

*stroke crosses through

běn

notebook
木 + 一
tree + one

slice out of tree trunk becomes a notebook

gōng

public [adj.]
八 + 厶
eight + monument

public bus #8 goes to the monument

yuán

garden [n.]
囗 + 元yuán
enclose + Adam&Eve

"Adam and Eve were enclosed for a while in a garden, Eden, where they thought they had everything they needed." (Bible Series)

machine
木 + 几jǐ
wood + wind

a wooden windmill machine

river
氵 + 可kě
water + can

"Little Steamboat that Could" chugging up the river, saying "I think I can..."

huà

words
讠 + 舌
microphone + tongue

microphone amplifies the words of your tongue

diàn

store [n.]
广 + 占zhān
cave + tell fortunes

a primitive cave store where you pay someone to get your fortune read

hēi

black
里 + 灬
computer + cooking fire

burnt computer is black

wash [v.]
氵 + 先xiān
water + first

wash with water first, then eat

dòng

move [v.]
云 + 力
cloud + muscle

a goddess moves the clouds with her muscles

piào

ticket
西 + 示
Wild West + altar

"Buy tickets to a Wild West show featuring a shotgun wedding at the altar of the town church." (Wild West)

To the west of the altar is where they sell tickets to tour the cathedral.

diàn

electricity
日 + 乚
sun + hook

a lightning bolt is like a streak of electricity from the sun

picture of a kite

take charge
𠃌 + 一 + 口
coat hook + one + mouth

you’re on the hook—you’re the one mouth in charge

thing
牛 + 勿wù
cow + knot

What’s that thingy on a cow’s tail? It's like a frayed knot.

běi

north
匕(back) + 匕
person sitting + person sitting

two people back-to-back trying to stay warm in the north

goatee
古gǔ + 月
ancient + moon

ancient moon with a goatee

shì

market [n.]
亠 + 巾
top hat + towel

a bad dream: show up at the market wearing only a top hat and a towel

jiù

old
丨 + 日
stick + day/sun

if you leave a walking stick out in the sun, it gets old

xìn

faith
亻 + 言
persona + speech

you have faith in your persona’s speech

ān

peaceful
宀 + 女
house + woman

a woman at peace when she is the only one in the house

chǎng

site
土 + 2yáng
soil + piglet

picture an open area, piglets rooting around in the soil

This is the actual site of Charlotte’s famous webs.

gào

declare
牛 + 口
cow + mouth

Chick-Fil-A cow declaring “Eat more chikin”

cow saying: ”I do declare

Foundations

Quiz

zhī

offshoot, *branch

xìng

good fortune

wàn

ten thousand

zhān

tell fortunes

miàn

face-to-face

西

west, *Wild West

oneself, *nose

gōng

public [adj.]

yuán

garden [n.]

yuán

beginning, *Adam & Eve

wén

literature, *gentleman farmer

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