Visualise vividly
See it
Add Emotion

What makes something memorable
WMMW
WMES
Involve all senses

Acronyms
Acrostics
Poems
Songs
Relate back to known

ONE GUN A Red point
TWO SHOE B Orange a line segment
THREE FLEA C Yellow triangle
FOUR DOOR D Green square
FIVE HIVE E Blue  pentagon
SIX BRICKS STICKS F Indigo hexagon
SEVEN HEAVEN G Violet seven pointed star
EIGHT GATE H Black octagon islamic 8 pointed star
NINE WINE I White  3×3 tictac toe board
TEN HEN J Grey a line segment with two pentagons at the start and end
ELEVEN BROWN

Story Method
Person Action Object
Loci Palace
LINKWORDS COGNATES

HSIAO XIAO small
how SMALL is an otter? acronym

里 力 立 利 李 吏 厉 历 理 离 丽 例 礼

一 十 木 米 茶  本 未 末 来 林 森

A
BE
CAT
DOGS
EARTH
FAKERS
GODDESS
HOLINESS HEAVENLY
INTELLECT
JEALOUSIES
KLEPTOCRACY
LITHOGRAPHER
MEMORIZATIONS MENTALIZATION
NEUROTECHNIQUE
OPHTHALOMOGICAL
PARADIGMATICALLY PALEOGEOGRAPHIES
QUADRIARTICULATED QUANTUMMECHANICAL
RECONSTRUCTIONISMS

Camera Obscura

Science faction?

In the future the fact that gravity space and time are in fact the same phenomenon will be not only an established fact but also understood sufficiently that they will launch time probes into the past. These probes will move around time as much as they do through it, basically functioning like a remote viewing telescope broadcasting past images (us) into the future where they have receivers. After the future determines how to look into the past it then moves on to determine how to communicate with the past. What starts as mere observation portals, and possibly invisble ones, become communication devices. Then, the future works on not only observing then communicating into the past but also on temporal distortion: speeding up or slowing down the flow of time in localized areas.

Get obtain, must 得de/dei
Possess 的, de=’s di=aim 目的=mudi, intention
dirt. 地 de=-ly di=land 地方 =difang place

Someone walking down a road beneath the sun at dawn pinches what ?
dirt that’s what Dirty di, difang de di

地.

They obtained 得 dirt 地

and now it is the dirt OF 的

someone on their spoon beside the bright white sun. 的
Ew.

止此紫些

红色的

橙色的

黄色的

绿色的

蓝色的

紫色的

棕色的

黑色的
白色的

粉红色的

青

朱

赤色的

灰色

允 充 弃

允yun3 permit it’s a picture of mom nursing a baby. she PERMITS it.

充chong1 fulfill the child is happy because it has FULLY fed.

弃qi4 abandon it’s a picture of a kid being held up in a basket and abandoned.

The first people to insult the police are also generally the first people to call the police for help. They hate the police, until they need them.

People who think they have all the rights, that the rules don’t apply to them, and that they can treat others like trash, use them and throw them away are about to find out: they can’t. The rules apply to you. You cannot abuse people.

Policing is a very difficult job physically and psychologically.

Even in a tyrannical regime, a police state, the police are people.

On Friday and Saturday I am giving away a kids book I wrote called “Mom, Monster, Mermaid“.

Feel free to provide an honest accurate book review.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C5ZK144/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i19

亦变赤弃允

These characters all look a bit similar and some of them are even conceptually related. By learning them as a group they are easier to recall.

亦 Yi4: Also, Too

Also, Too: It’s a pictogram of a person carrying something under his arms He is ALSO carrying something else.

https://hanziyuan.net/#%E4%BA%A6

变 Bian4: Betray, Change, Rebel, Renounce

Change, Rebel, Renounce, Betray

变 https://hanziyuan.net/#%E5%8F%98

is a combined composite character. On top is a persons Also carrying something; beneath is a hand. The idea is that the person is going back on their oath; this idea grew into the idea of change generally. To change, alter, but also to renounce, betray.

赤 Chi4: Scarlet, Red, Bare, Naked

Scarlet, Red, Bare, Naked

https://hanziyuan.net/#赤

It’s a picture of a naked person on top (this portion deformed/simplified to its present form) above a fire, he is naked and heating himself. The fire’s flames are red so is the naked person’s heating body.

弃 Qi4 Abandon

It’s an infant in a basket, above two hands. Is that baby for sale? It is now! It means to abandon: baby in a basket, abandoned.
https://hanziyuan.net/#%E5%BC%83

允 Yun3 Allow, Permit

It’s a combined concept character of a mother above nursing an infant below; she is PERMITTING and ALLOWING it.

https://hanziyuan.net/#允

车到山前必有路，船到桥头自然直

Before the cart reaches the mountain there must be a road,

a boat which reaches a bridge proceeds naturally.

These are some of the logical connectors in Chinese.

只有。。。就
只有。。。才
既是。。。也
尽管。。。但是
无论。。。都
既然。。。就
与其。。。不如
除非。。。否则
除了。。。都
不管。。。都
不是。。。就是

只有。。。就 if only … then (if)
只有。。。才ONLY IF … then (if, and only if)
既是。。。也  even if … there is still
尽管。。。但是 despite
无论。。。都 no matter what … all
既然。。。就 although … still
与其。。。不如 instead of … why not
除非。。。否则 only if/if not/unless … otherwise
除了。。。都 except for … all
不管。。。都 although … all
不是。。。就是 either … or

Though they look alike they appear to have no phonetic relationship and are likely associative compound characters (hui yi zi)

合 he2 to close join fit
谷 gu3 grain, valley
容 rong4 hold contain countenance
浴 yu4 bathe

盒 he2 box case
舍she2 residence

盒

“Pedo guy” – Elon Musk

I’m going to hide from the U.S prosecutors! In the USA! They will never think to look there!

How can any person be that stupid? Ok, granted, we’re talking about a pedophile pimp… even for that class of low life New Hampshire is a really stupid place to try to hide.

Well, stupid is as stupid does. How many blackflips will she do? Hint: she’s stupid. As many as the FBI wants! And if she doesn’t the prosecution will rip her throat out on cross examination.

To my surprise, there does not seem to be a comprehensive list of indicative characters on the internet. Indicative characters are more often called self explanatory characters in English but in Chinese are called indicative characters (指事字). We may also rightly call them ideograms. Indicative characters are abstract symbols, sometimes derived from pictograms, to express an abstract concept graphically. So for example an arrow, a dot. Most numbers are indicative characters because they are an abstract concept. Some of the indicative characters are inversions of other characters. They are self evident. The dots tend to be used to call attention to a particular aspect of a pictogram. Like pictograms, ideograms generally do not have a phonetic clue as to their pronunciation, though some do. Some ideograms are quite abstract others are referenced to pictograms. They are symbols, abstract expressions of an idea graphically represented.

一 one

七 seven

三 three

上 up

下 down

世 world (three generations of ten years each)

中 middle

之 possessive particle

乏 deficiency

九 9

二 2

于 at

五 five

亦 also

八 8

公 public

凶 pit trap disaster

刁diao knife in the mouth as symbol of the idea of wicked

xi a fledgling bird’s wing as a symbol of revision

刃ren4 edge of a blade

勺shao spoon dot is the depression for the food

十10

千 1000

升 rise

叉 fork. dot is the food on it

只 only dots of speech from the mouth

员 employee

四 4

夏 summer (hundreds of people walking about)

太 too much (too big too heavy)

孔 kong

寸 cun inch

小 xiao small 3 dots of sand grains as symbol of small

尤 excellent outstanding; a lame man with an accentuated particularity (he was wounded in war)

尺 one foot long

屯 village, troop outpost; originally a sprout.

左left (work tool in left hand)

幻 huan fantasy

廷ting2 palace courtyard

旦 dan dawn

曰 yue tongue

末 mo tip (of a tree)

本 ben root (tree root)

朱 zhu red bark cambium of a tree, spiral rings of a tree; scarlet, ring.

氐di foundation (the roof of a clan is its foundation)

爻 trigram markings,

牟mou moo

牵qian to pull an animal on a tether, to lead along, to hold hands

犮right (two right hands of two people shaking hands, two hands clasping each other)

甘 gan sweet (sweet food on the tongue)

示 shi vision alter as a symbol of the idea of a divine vision of the divine; two+small=divine visions

臣chen government  minister (ju giant is a component of it; ministers are big and powerful people)

逆 ni contrary opposite backwards. inverted da big as symbol of retreat, backwards, going back.

凹 ao concave

凸 tu convex

习 xi wing of a fledgeling bird as symbol of the idea of revision, review, study

少 few xiao+negation stroke? not small, but few.夕 xi evening star venus or moon as symbol of evening

士 shi master

灭mie disaster

This list is definitely not complete.

The shou wen jiezi claims there are only about 150 indicative characters.

When you literally whore out children you shouldn’t be surprised when it catches up to you.

States sometimes go to war with former allies and sometimes make alliances with former enemies. Are there conditions which make wars between states less likely? Are there conditions which make alliances among states more likely?

When we think of war we are using an abstract concept to simplify our world as a kind of a lemma; of course, “the state” doesn’t reallye exist, but people do. What things make groups of people likelier to trust and trade? What things make groups of people likelier to fear, distrust, or even hate?

Abstractions of identity help to explain when groups are likelier to conflict or get along. Common points make conflicts less likely, and differences make conflict likelier. So the question of war in a sense is also the question of identity, of self as opposed to other.

What criteria do people use to identify themselves? Well, we are all human, so in principle we all could get along. Yet, even though we are all human some have different skin colors, others have different religious views, others have different languages, others still have different ideologies, different systems of government.

So, countries (abstractions from individuals) with common religions, languages, skin colors, and ideologies are likelier to get along as opposed to countries split by race, religion, language, and ideology.

Viewed in this light the USA and China may be doomed to conflict. Their ideologies and religions are quite different, so are their languages; and even race is to a larger extent than not different. All they really have in common is the desire to grow rich: they are culturally driven to acquire and enjoy property and to view property ownership as all important.

Viewed this way too the USA and Russia are likelier to get along than to conflict. Their religions are similar though not entirely the same; their racial composition is likewise similar, but not the same. Their contemporary ideologies are more similar than different. In short, the four splits, race, religion, ideology, and language are much less severe between the USA and Russia as compared to the USA and China or Russia and China. The Chinese-Russian relationship is thus more fragile, and the U.S. Russian conflicts are more illusory. It is likelier that the USA will be able to bring Russia into an anti-Chinese coalition than for China to bring Russia into an anti-USA coalition.

合作 hezuo collaborate

合 is a picture of a mouth on top with a dot of food or a word, and a mouth below. it is the idea of close/to close//mutual. Once you understand the underlying pictograph or ideograph’s logic the characters are much easier to remember.合 thus can mean “and” “with” “co”. It, like so many Chinese words doesn’t correspond exactly to one single English word. 作 is a person on the left and on the right is cloth which is spread out as a display or for sale. this zuo means to make or to do. There is another zuo which ALSO means to make or do and in the same tone to boot. Polysemicity is unfortunately a big part of Chinese so get used to sound alikes. So: “to do”+”together”=collaborate.

我们的公司会跟你们合作 our business will work with you.

c.f. he tong, contract.

纠结（jiū jié）STRUGGLE

Jiu1 means tied, twisted. On the left is the silk determinant since it’s usually ropes and on the right is stylized image of

丩 jiu1

two ropes twisted together. It occurs these days as a character component.

On the right is

结jie2

jie2 which means KNOT. But 结 jie2 is a polyphonic character and in the first tone means produce, solid, bear fruit.

Put together jiu1jie2 means STRUGGLE. We STRUGGLE to break the bonds of ropes tied together which bind us.

Ah the Strug Gull! My favorite Bird!

Chinese has lots of words which could be translated as round, circle. None of them correspond exactly to the English word “circle”. But each in context is unambiguous. Here are some of them. Context words are italicized, these express the core of the Chinese word.

圈 round as in a roll, whether a rolled pearl curtain, a rolled mat, a rolled tortilla, a rolled up fist. quan1
轮 a round (measure word; just like English “a round of golf” e.g.) lun2
圆 round, circle, sphere yuan2
圜 round, circle, around, ring huan2
周 circle, circumference zhou1
围 encircle, surround, around wei2
绕 entwine, coil around, around, round rao4
团 round, as in lump, as in ball; regiment tuan2
巡 patrol, round as in the police made their rounds xun2

坚持 solid+support=PERSIST JIANCHI
节奏 festival+music=RHYTHM JIEZOU
原则 source+standard/norm=PRINCIPLE YUANZE
违背 disobey/violate+burdened back = WEIBEI VIOLATE
独处 solitary+reside/place = LIVE ALONE DUCHU
念头 recall+head = IDEA INTENTION NIANTOU
属于 category+there/at = TO BE CLASSIFIED AS shuyu
沉默 submerge+silence=taciturn CHENMO
功课 merit+course=homework GONGKE
眺望 gaze into distance + hope = SURVEY tiaowang
凝视 congea+vision = GAZE AT ningshi
替代 replace+represent=SUBSTITUTE tidai

罢 ba4 stop

Net on top (wang2)
big foot on the bottom walking out of the city below (qu4 – it is a deformed character due to simplification; memory trick? the si on the bottom is an arrow pointing his way out! not really: it’s deformed, but hopefully more memorable that way).

It’s an associative idea character. Two ideas brought together to express a third.

罢手 ba shou – ba to stop, shou, hands; it means to stop as in quit as in surrender as in hands up!

罟 gu trap, implicate

Literally a net for trapping birds or fish; figuratively catch in the criminal drag net.

Net on top (semantic)
Gu character below (phonetic) = 10 mouths.
A pictophonetic character.

10 mouths caught in a  net: TRAP, IMPLICATE

Hope you like my blahg :/ cough cough
Rage, btw, is French for madness as in rabies.

“When they came for the Land O Lakes Butter Princess – I wasn’t a butter princess, so I said nothing.

When they came for Aunt Jemima – I wasn’t fake maple syrup, so I said nothing.

When they came for Uncle Ben – I wasn’t brown rice, so I said nothing.

When they came for me – I wasn’t Elizabeth Warren, so no one came for me.”

First, the land o lakes indian princess. this has long been the brunt of bad jokes and since the farmers coop don’t seem to be founded by or funding ndn issues i’m ok with it, though it was nice to see something other than genocide.

Then Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, the Cream of Wheat mascot is next on the chopping block.
Cui bono?

LA CHOY WAS UNAVAILABLE FOR COMMENT!

懂了嗎？
東東!

–Devil’s Diplomatic Dictionary

Much of what passes for “news” and “reporting” these days is really just marketing fakery to push a given “narrative” “story”.

Specifically:

1) Generate a pseudo conflict e.g. by making an outrageous counterintuitive claim, preferably one which is unverifiable or at least difficult to verify. Many people are lazy and will never bother to do their basic research. (paradox, contradiction).

2) Use that false conflict to polarize readers, preferably viewers, into two or more hostile camps. Split people into hostile groups and stoke up their mutual rage at each other. Viewers are preferable to readers since they are less likely to think critically or analytically and are also less likely to try to verify claims, or even to know how to do so.

3) Spin off as many conflict stories as possible from the generated conflict into poutrage lamentation shock and horror. The “story” now has “legs”! It must be true!

4) Use search engine optimization and fake bot accounts on social media to push aspects of the story.

5) Use one polarized segment (your audience) to destroy another polarized segment (your viewers). Ideally use two disposable factions since you might miscalculate but their mutual destruction would nonetheless serve your hidden agenda.

Season with hidden agenda and conspiracy, whether political OR economic (who cares about the truth I just want to sell product / manipulate the stock price).

必须  

bi4xu1 must+must/beard (male as symbol of commanding obligation)

需要

xu1yao1 Need+Want, Require+Desire = NEED

Winter snow NEEDS to be swept away by a man with a beard.
Women WANT bags and bottles of products.

Need and Must are both xu1 but have a different character.

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禁止的

at the altar before the grove the priest made clear that which was PROHIBITED

挺清楚的

that which was prohibited was made quite clear by the clear green blue burning brazier at the altar before those who would walk past the grove.

任
住主注
往

选手 xuanshou33 choose+hand=Athlete

The ATHLETES, as CONTESTANTS had a first–Hand view of the race. Choose the best

史 HISTORY is a central LIne in her hand SHI3

吏 the HISTORIAN has a chopstick in her hair: One LIne on one’s head

使 an ENVOY is an historian in the EMPLOY of the government SHI3

These look similar too but do not appear to be etymologically related to

更 geng1 geng4 https://hanziyuan.net/#便 replace, change (the guard); more
便 bian4 pian4 https://hanziyuan.net/#更 ordinary, plain, convenient; cheap, inexpensive

須 xiu

H.irsute
I.t’s
U.nderstood MUSTACHE MUST BEARD OBLIGATION
It’s a pictogram.
3 lines of hair on the left
2 dots for the mustache  on the bottom
eyeball in the middle on the right
line on top on right is a hair tie chopstick.

The man with the flowing BEARD tells you what you MUST do.

必须 bixu

Must, to have to, to be obligated.

德

De2  VIRTUE.
Path on the left, light of the eye it’s focal direction on top of the all-seeing eye in the middle. line underneath is the path, implying choice, heart underneath shows it is moral choice.

the light of the all seeing eye is on the path of VIRTUE it is guided by the heart.

Chinese is replete with homophones. Some seem to be cognitively related. Let’s have a look at the phoneme yu2, usually in second tone.

于 余 与 all three are yu2 and are high frequency connecting characters! AT, EXCESS, RECEPTION
与 AND  宇 yu3 universe (image: a child underneath the sky-dome!.
与 PARTICIPATE 欲 yu4 DESIRE

于

AT, In, From. Can also function as a question particle like ma at the end of a sentence, that usage however seems literary to me as opposed to colloquial.

余

Extra Surplus Excess, Left over goods. Image is a house under construction with surplus material scattered about. AT this House is EXTRA construction material.

与 yu2 yu3 yu4

PARTICIPATE yu4

AND yu3

This one is the idea of mutuality, especially the mutual relation of reception by the younger generation from the donation of the elder generation.

欲 yu4

Desire.

宇 yu3

Universe.

雨 yu3

Rain

疑 yi2

Uncertain, doubt, to suspect, to disbelieve.

Originally this was the image of a man with a walking stick as a representation of the idea of inquiry as to the proper way.
Later a road was placed to his right to make the idea clearer.
Still later, a foot symbol was added beneath that man to make the basic idea really clear.
An ox also appears in some images again to express the idea of not knowing the way: the man is guiding the ox and neither know the way.
This was then stylized and simplified to its present form.
It’s meaning extended over time to include extensions of the basic idea of uncertainty, lack of knowledge, to include disbelief, doubt, suspicion.
However, it’s core meaning is: uncertainty, implying inquiry.
This is one example where CEDict, which in many respects is very good, doesn’t reflect the Chinese language with perfect accuracy, which is tough since Chinese meanings often carry allusions and extensions not found in Western counterparts.

Uncertain, doubt, to suspect, to disbelieve.

On the left is a stylized and standardized image of a man. The top left is his open mouth asking the way bi3 匕. Yes, that character means spoon, knife, but here it is reused visually. Beneath him is shi3 矢 arrow which represents his body, his hand, and walking stick. Arrows of course represent direction, intention, awareness, focus so this stylization makes sense pictographically (his body) phonetically (sound clue as to pronunciation) and semantically (arrow as symbol of the man on his way, intent on his destination).

On the right is a representation of these ideas: the path he is on, the ox he is guiding, The top right is an inverted arrow: this figure is often used to represent the head, a circle, it’s usually pictographic. Here it is a remnant of the ox which the man is guiding, the ox also does not know the way.

Beneath is the foot figure zhi it represents the idea of his walking, that he is on a road and is also a pictographic remnant / standardization of the ox which was on his right.  https://hanziyuan.net/#疑

止 zhi3 stop https://hanziyuan.net/#止

路 lu4 road https://hanziyuan.net/#路

正zheng1 upright https://hanziyuan.net/#正

疋 pi3, ya3  https://hanziyuan.net/#%E7%96%8B

https://hanziyuan.net/#

不知千年万年万年千年 I don’t know, thousands or tens of thousands of years?
终于终于醒过来醒过来 Finally finally awoke!
醒来是如此艰难 Awakening is like this, very hard.
擦一擦眼睛把世界看明白 wipe your eyes, look at the world, understand
清浊分明 混沌化开 distinguish clear from murky, chaos transforms and opens
清浊分明 混沌化开 distinguish clear from murky, chaos transforms and opens
呼…………
从此有了阴晴暑寒 following this was shadow clarity heat and cold
从此有了兴替盛衰 following this was rise and fall, flourish and decline
从此有了日升月落 following this was sunrise and moon set
从此有了未来现在 following this was the future – now
从此就是天圆地方 following this then the round heaven, the square earth
从此就是五湖四海 following this then the five lakes, the four oceans
从此就是春华秋实 following this then spring flowers, autumn harvest
从此就是世世代代 following this then ages and generations
喔…………
经历千载万载万载千载 experience a thousand loads ten thousand loads
一天一天站起来站起来 on one day – one day arose, stood up
一旦从梦中觉醒 following one dawn awoke in the middle of a dream
挺一挺腰杆把世界撑起来 standing straight, bearing a pole on the back, placing the world upright
生活起航 历史剪彩 life set sail! history’s ribbon was cut!
生活起航 历史剪彩 life set sail! history’s ribbon was cut!
呼…………
从此有了阴晴暑寒 following this was shadow clarity heat and cold
从此有了兴替盛衰 following this was rise and fall, flourish and decline
从此有了日升月落 following this was sunrise and moon set
从此有了未来现在 following this was the future – now
从此就是天圆地方 following this then the round heaven, the square earth
从此就是五湖四海 following this then the five lakes, the four oceans
从此就是春华秋实 following this then spring flowers, autumn harvest
从此就是世世代代 following this then ages and generations
喔…………

https://music.163.com/#/song?id=300363&autoplay=true&market=baiduhd

He split the sky and sundered the land

standing tall between heaven and earth

Pangu created the universe

https://music.163.com/#/song?id=300363&autoplay=true&market=baiduhd

白日依山尽 bai ri yi shan jin
黄河入海流 huang he ru hai liu
欲穷千里目 yu qiong qian li mu
更上一层楼 geng shang yi ceng luo

Day after day
The Yellow River flows into the sea
Desperate
Take it to the next level

Google… this is classical Chinese poetry. Not rap music.

Here’s my translation.

“The bright sun to the mountain goes

the yellow river to the ocean flows

the poor desire to see a thousand miles more

then climb up to a higher floor”

Maybe baidu does it better? Surprisingly it doesn’t do much better (usually fanyi.baidu.com does a better job than google translating Chinese).

Day by day

The flow of the Yellow River into the sea

in order to see far away

Take it to the next level

Maybe yandex??

Day by day
Yellow River into the sea
For a thousand miles
To the next level.

*sigh*.

颂 song4 song

Song4 is a cognate. It means song in the poetic sense, ode, elegy, eulogy. Song in English also means poem but is rarely so used.

Gong1 public, duke, male on the left (phonetic) 公

Bei clam cowrie cash shell on the right 贝

(songs are performed in public for cash and are treasured)

公 + 贝= 颂

螢 ying2 firefly

火 火 huo3 fire
冖 mi4 cover
虫 chong2 invertebrate, creepy crawly flittiing flying
two fires on top, mi4 cover in the middle chong2 bug on the bottom fires represent
fire fire cover bug = firefly a pair of sparks in the dark a jar within to light the night firefly’s a real delight ying

Yes
It’s
Now
Glowing. FIREFLY

To memorize Chinese characters: look at them, then break them down into their componenents, then try to write them, then compare what you wrote with the character then remember all that.

Every character is a composite of sound and image to express an idea. It’s often to remember the meaning of the character than the sound since the characters are generally not phonetic. Likewise, it’s entirely possible to know a the meaning of a sound without knowing the character. Eventually however your knowledge of SOUND and IMAGE will line up! Especially if you know what the characters really mean using pictogram palace (free preview).

看拆写比记 kan1 chai1 xie3 bi3 ji4

看 look at

拆 break down

写 write

比 compare

记 record, note, remember.

爰 yuan2

Pictograph of two hands pulling a thread as a symbol of the idea TO FOLLOW, THEREFORE, SEQUENCE, CONSEQUENTLY. Claws on top, hand on the lower right. Hand in the middle is a standardization, it used to be the thread, it’s a reuse of a character to depict something other than it’s main meaning.

暖 nuan3

The sun is on the left, Consequently it is WARM

煖 nuan3

A fire is on the left, Consequently it is WARM. This is a variant version of nuan3 暖 WARM.

THUS 
U?TE
VASE
WARM


THUSTHREADISWARM

秋 qiu1

In the FALL we Burn 火 huo3 the Stalks of harvested grain 禾 he2; bonfires clear and fertilize the fields.

愁 chou2

In the Fall you WORRY  愁 chou2 ABOUT the coming winter.

各 ge4 足 zu4 路 lu4

各 EACH person has their FOOT 足 on the ROAD 路

做 zuo4

做 zuo4 is a VERY common character; it means to make, to do. Apparently it was coined recently since it does NOT appear in the liu shu tong, jia gu wen, or any other ancient sources.  Possibly it was coined to distinguish it from 作 zuo4 which ALSO means to make or do! Decomposing these characters may help.

This zuo4 做 should be understood as a hui yi zi, an associative compound character, person ren on the left and gu intentional on the right 故 gu4. 故 is a hand with a hammer on the left INTENTIONALLY hitting an old person to kill them and end their suffering. I promised you truth, not ponies.

ren+gu have no phonetic clue for zuo4 and so this 做 zuo4 must be an associative compound character and not a pictophonetic character. So this zuo4 做 means that which people intend to attain, and is make or do in exactly that sense.

Unlike 做, this zuo4, namely 作 is found in the oracle bone script.

https://hanziyuan.net/#做 INTENTIONAL OBTENTION, INTENTIONAL ACTION. ZUO4

乍 zha4

stitched spread out cloth as a symbol of work SPREAD, STAND ON END, BRISTLING by extension AT FIRST, ABRUPTLY as a cloth which breaks

Later determinanents were added to distinguish meaning from metaphor. https://hanziyuan.net/#乍

作 zuo4

WORKS, TO WORK, WRITE, COMPOSE

work is that which is done by people thus the ren, person, on the left is added to show not the product itself but the production thereof. https://hanziyuan.net/#作

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/作

作 zuo4 PRODUCTIVE WORKS, TO WORK

I hate to send you to look elsewhere but as a non-native speaker I must. Regarding the usage of the two zuo4 both of which mean MAKE, DO Angela Fang says…

http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/how-to-use-zuo-in-chinese-grammar

秉 bing3

争 zheng1

zheng looks a lot like bing but its meaning is somewhat different.

bing3 means to grasp hold maintain hanziyuan.net/#秉

zheng1 means to contend fight contest hanziyuan.net/#争

both have a hand grasping in the middle coming from the right hand side. but bing3 just has he2 a grain stalk which that hand is grasping whereas zheng1 now features a second person ren2 abbreviated on top (it’s either dao1 knife or ren2 person, it’s abbreviated and polysemic, keyword daozitou). Originally that second person/knife was a hand and the two were contending for a slab of meat.

缶 fou3

Pottery, jar, urn; it’s a mortar and pestle (or any other earthenware vessel), seen from the side. The mortar is on the bottom the pestle is on the top.

https://hanziyuan.net/#缶

夬 guai4

Certain, decisive. Originally a foot on top a hand below indicating the idea of certainty through experience. Transformed to a large powerful men (da ren, fu ren) the foot now also represents his ring of authority on which he might bear his jade royal seal.

https://hanziyuan.net/#夬

缺 que1

Deficiency lack absence; most often seen in 缺点 shortcoming default flaw.

This must be a hui yi zi, that is an associative compound character since it’s clearly not a pictogram or a pictophonetic character

EXPERIENCE shows URNS are sometimes DEFICIENT, LACKING.

https://hanziyuan.net/#缺

各 ge2 each

https://hanziyuan.net/#各
Mouth calls out. Foot then comes. EACH person comes when called.
stompmouth – foot on top of mouth: EACH is repressed!
EACH person has a foot and a mouth.
Don’t put your foot in your mouth.

洛 luo4 

the river luo
https://hanziyuan.net/#洛
each person comes to the river luo.

落 luo4 fall, drop; la4 lag leave behind

fall, drop
hanziyuan.net/#落
fall like leaves drop like drips

夅 jiang4 descend
降 jiang4 fall

夂夊 zhǐ foot and foot-right-kua 㐄

博弈论 bo2yi4 lun4

博弈 boy2yi4 games (of a competitive nature) gamble+ancient name for wei qi.

论lun4 theory (talking around the wheel)

囚徒困境 qiu2 tu2 kun4 jing4

prisoner+disciple=prisoner (qiu2tu2 tudi de tu)

kun4jing4 predicament (kun4 tired difficulty jing4 border place territory boundary)

kun4jing4 does not appear to indicate the idea of lemma.

旗 qi2 flag

This character is the image of a flag. Originally the flag was on the left; the character was simplified and standardized to its present form. The person in stocks (cangue) on the left originally was the guard tower holding the flag. The sideways/abbreviated ren2 person character on the top right was originally the flag, and appeared on the left on top of what is now the slave in stocks (cangue). The bottom right character originally was the kit and equipment of the color guard.

Today it may be most easily remembered as a square flag on the left with it’s penannt on the top right and the standard bearers kit and equipment on the lower right. Alternatively, you may like to think of the man in stocks on the left as the guard, the flag as a tool (qi2) on the lower right and the image of the penant on the top right.

In any case, tool on the lower left is also a phonetic clue: it says qi2 just like this character. A flag is a tool of state power, which includes the power to imprison exile guard and defend.

It is a pictophonetic character. Note that phonetic elements generally also are pictorial and/or semantic.

敝

hand hammer + torn tatters = bi4

hand hammer busted tattered BI4.

it’s the idea of busted up clothing, shabby, broken people by extension.

poor ruined shabby broken defeated

https://hanziyuan.net/#敝

病 bing4

bing4 means sick. It’s a picture of one’s ribs as a symbol of interior, inside and it is on a sickbed. the bed is sideways, the feet of the bed are on the left and the head of the bed is on top. See? Easy!

Sideways Sickbed + Inside? 病字偏旁! 就起来！Bingzi pianpang! Jiu qi lai!

Tiaojian条件,  qingkuang情况: tiaojian is a condition, like as in the clause of a contract. but qingkuang is a more general condition, situation, state. They are not exact synonyms but they are similar.

条件

条件 tiaojian CONDITION (a strip 条 + a piece (of cowhide) 件).
Tiao: this is a STRIP it is a Foot on top of a Tree. The foot stands on a strip of the tree’s branches.
Jian: is a Person next to a Cow. Guess who is gonna get turned into a PIECE of Leather?

情况

情况 qingkuang circumstance
qing is Heart + Clear Colored Green-Blue = FEELING 情qing

Ice+Big Brother=SITUATION. 况kuang

It’s freezing cold out my big brother has a heart set on clarity. These is the SITUATION in which we find ourselves. 情况qingkuang

Both are supervillians. Obviously they are related: just look at those smirks!

床前明月光 quan2 qian2 ming2 yue4 guang1
疑是地上霜 yi2 shi4 di4 shang3 shuang1
举头望明月 ju3 tou2 wang4 ming2 yue4
低头思故乡 di1 tou2 si1 gu4 xiang1

bright moon light before bed
doubtful is frost on land
lifting my head, hopeful bright moon
bowing my head, thinking of home

完全他妈的恐慌屠杀和扯蛋

持 = 手 + 土 + 寸

chi2 is a hand on the left (手shou3) a clump of earth on the top right (土tu3) and a pinching thumb on the bottom right (寸cun4)

    d
C.H.I
u a r
n n tu3
4 d

C.lasp
H.old
I.t GRASP HOLD SUPPORT GRASP IT HARD AND SUPPORT

千山鸟飞绝 the flight of a thousand birds cut short
万径人踪灭 the tracks and traces of ten thousand extinguished
孤舟蓑笠翁 an old man alone in a boat in a wet raincoat
独钓寒江雪 fishes in the frozen Yangtze river

all smiles kids

You are 是 standing upright 正 under the SHIning sun 日 at dawn 旦 and it’s a really hot day. This then is SHI是 and it means: to be. Shi’s character is a symbol: it’s a picture of the sun at dawn on top of a picture of a foot. Chinese characters are highly stylized standardized and simplified pictures. The idea of this shi is a person standing upright underneath the dawning sun. Chinese verbs don’t conjugate. That means i SHI you SHI we SHI – it’s always shi! Chinese has the simplest grammar. Verbs don’t have to agree in number or gender because Chinese doesn’t have gender or plurals really or conjugations. Let’s be egoists. Wo is Chinese for I. You can remember it with the word ego, which sounds similar I guess if you slur the g softly like – aygho – wo. Chinese wo also rhymes with Spanish yo, which also means I. So “Wo Shi”. I am! You are: ni shi. We are women shi. Can you guess what adding -men to wo does? Yes, it makes the plural, but Chinese plural only exists for people, not things. So nimen is you plural. Ta means he, but since Chinese has no gender it also means she. Can you guess what tamen means? Yep! It means them. And just like that you learned all the conjugations of to be in Chinese whether in the past present or future! Singuler: Wo shi. Ni shi. Ta shi. Plural: Women shi. Nimen shi. Tamen shi. You also learned four characters:
日 ri SUN
旦 dan DAWN
正 zheng UPRIGHT
是 shi IS

春眠不觉晓 chun mian bu jue shao
处处闻啼鸟 chu chu wen ti niao
夜来风雨声 ye lai feng yu sheng
花落知多少 hua luo zhi duo shao

dormant in spring, not asleep at dawn
hear and there the calling cry of birds
evening arrives with wind rains sound
how much do falling flowers know?

廴 yin3

long road. Sometimes reported as long legged strider, which does’t seem to be the case; this is also not a picture of a stylized and simplified hand overtaking a person. It is variant of

彳 chi4

road, walk to emphasize the road is VERY long.

辵 chuo4 ⻍, ⻎ or ⻌

walk abbreviated form: 辶 (may have one or two dots on top, may have a curve in the middle left depending on font). These four all seem to be expressing the same idea. It’s a road, and/or a person walking along it. Yin just happens to be a much longer road.

None of the above are t to be confused with

及 ji2

which is a hand on the right grabbing a person on the left, as a symbol of:
to overtake, exceed, catch up to. No road here, just a chase and a catch. Nor to be confused with

乃 nai3

thus, then, hence: mother’s breast as symbol of consequence. No road here either.

常尝 chang2

常 this chang2 means often, repeatedly.

尝 this chang2 means taste try attempt.

they both have “esteemed” shang4 尚 (still, yet, to hold in high esteem; we Still go Toward that we Esteem 向xiang4) on top as the phonetic clue. The semantic key is the other part, for chang2 often we see a hanging curtain, which is often opened and often closed, i.e. a doorway’s curtain. 常

The other chang2 which means taste try attempt has a cloud underneath it; the cloud symbolizes the idea of changeability and possibility, possibly better weather, possibly worse weather, possibly shade, possibly sun. The great hall of heaven has a billowing white cloud underneath it may be a nice way to remember chang2 taste try attempt.尝

我常常尝试

九丸执热

These look alike but are unrelated. They don’t sound at all alike. You’re better off just memorizing than searching the etymology, which I did.

9 九 jiu3 j.ot i.t u.p 9 dash line

pill 丸 wan2 W.ant A. N.arcotic PILL

grasp 执 zhi2  z? h.old i.t! GRASP

hot, to heat 热 ri4 R.eally I.ntense HOT

You can predict his location (‘on the Beach’…) OR his velocity (zero) but never both at once.

在沙滩 zai4sha1tan1
再杀瘫 zai4sha1tan1

辛

This is Xin1. It’s a picture of a dagger used to inflict corporal punishment on prisoners. So it means pain, painful, spicy-hot like chilis but most frequently is seen in xinku which means to work very hard. PAIN, HARDSHIP, HARD WORK, SPICY-HOT

H.ardship
S.picy-hot
I.ncisive
N.asty XIN1

幸

This is Xing. It looks like Xin. It sounds like Xing. But it means the exact opposite: Xing is a picture of two prisoners bound by shackles at the feet, who are about to be absolved and released and thus are LUCKY

H.e’s
S.o
I.ncredible
N.ow
G.oing LUCKY XING4

临 lin2

监 jian1

临 L.ook I.ts N.ot OVERLOOK FACE ARRIVE ABOUT TO 临

This is a highly stylized and simplified picture of a person bending over and inspecting, examining, objects. The person is on the top right, his eyeball has been simplified to two sticks on the left, the objects he is inspecting used to be three kou which were also a simplification of the picture of objects, now it is a weird horizontal ri and a dot on top. This simplification might be easier to write but is so deformed from the original as to be barely evident even to the trained eye.

监 J.ail I.nspect A.nd N.ote HARD JAIL SUPERVISE CONTROL INSPECT JIAN 监

Likewise terribly simplified. It’s a picture of a person kneeling down looking into a dish. The dish is on the bottom and is the only element which isn’t deformed. The bamboo tip on the right top is actually ren person. The two lines on the left are a stylized simplification of his big ol eyeball.

几乎 almost ji1hu1 (how many/much+at)
计划 strategy ji4hua4 (calculate+delimit)
机会 opportunity ji1hui4 (machine meeting)

氐 di

到底 dao di

氏 shi

派对 pai dui

民族 min zu

These vocabulary look alike but sound different yet all concern constituents of the state.

氏 shi

clan. image was originally of a man bowing to the ground. now is a cliff and a war-dart, the idea that this clan resides at a cliff and is armed.

氐 di

foundation; name of an ancient tribe. It’s an image of the roots of a tree; or those with war-darts residing at the base of a certain cliff. the dot is ideographic indicating the idea of the lowest point of the root system of the clan, whether that root system is of a literal tree or a metaphor of the family tree.

底 di

background foundation base: the literal broad cliff where the people who call themselves the tribe dwelling at the base of the cliff live.

到底 dao di

fundamentally, in the end, in the final analysis reached the base of it all, the root of it all

民族 min zu

body+dart=nation. the nation is an armed body.

flag+person+arrow=race, ethnic group (usually, a minority). Armed people with a flag. They are not merely a group of relatives they are also politically organized.

派对 pai dui part (social, not political) but

派 pai means streams of thought, intellectual currents, by extension school of thought; but also clique, sect, faction. It is a tributary river next to another river. Without the three dots of water on the left determinant it means tributary

合给答含 he2 gei3 da2 han2

谷俗 gu3 su2

容溶 rong2

合 he close 

mouth on top with something inside it as a dot below another mouth. two people kissing as symbol of closed

盒 he box

the noune form of the verb he close

给 gei give

a cognate! hold it close and kiss it because it is very lonely.

答 da answer reply return 荅

bamboo box; i suppose the bamboo symbolizes a

含 han

keep, suck on; lit. to contain in one’s mouth

谷 gu

valley, grain (grain comes from valleys).

俗su

custom convention popular coarse vulgar

容rong

hold contain countenance

溶rong

dissolve

Apparently these are mostly combined concept characters (hui yi si 会意思). I don’t think language drift can explain these dissonances. Some are of course pictophonetic (形声字). Anyway they are all frequent and easily confused and should be memorized by rote. Repetition is the mother of learning.

齐匀习羽勺刁 qi2 yun2 xi2 yu3 shao2 diao1
桥乔侨 qiao2
娇轿骄 jiao1 jiao4 jiao1

齐匀习羽勺刁

齐qi means level, neat, even; it is a synonym of yun 匀, which means equally distributed. 匀 Yun seems more about weight and equality whereas qi齐 seems to be more about surface areas and equal  heights.

匀yun looks like 习xi which is a fledgling birds wing as symbol of the idea of training and practice. 羽yu is the literal wing, it is a pictogram. 勺shao is a spoon with an object the dot of food on it. 刁diao is a daggar held in the mouth. These are look alikes only. They have different etymologies.

齐qi Level also looks a lot like jiao 乔 Tall. Jiao乔 means tall

乔桥侨 qiao2

乔Tall 乔

桥Bridge 桥

侨Emigrant 侨

娇轿骄 jiao

娇Pampered 娇

轿Arrogant 轿 he’s on his High horse with a War Chariot

骄Sedan Chair 骄 she’s on her High Horse carried aloft by four friends – or are they coolies?

带常堂

belt often great-hall

dai4 chang2 tang2

Belt and Often look similar but are different in sound and meaning. Belt has an image of the belt as three lines through one line on top. Beneath is 巾 jin cloth

In contrast “often” has the abbreviated form of shang 尚 on top as a sound clue.

Tang, hall, as in great hall, room, has the symbol for earth beneath the abbrievated form of shang 尚.

鱼龟黾蝇

fish frog toad fly

yu2 gui1 min3 ying4

乂义丈史吏使更便 in this character series we see the unfolding of an abstract concept into its various concrete instances. Meanings: govern justice husband historian civil servant ambassador more convenient. Details follow.

乂yi

regulate govern control “x marks the spot”. yi4

义yi

justice. this is simplified. revolutionary justice is execution: it doesn’t just look like a skull and crossbones. yi4

丈 zhang

Literally ten feet but much more frequently as zhangfu, husband. zhang4

史 shi

Originally an ambassador who would go to the neutral zone between (中) two armies. So it is a distortion of zhong1 (中). In modern Chinese: a historian. shi3

吏 li

Memotechnique: Mr. Li is a civil servant. 李先生 是一位 吏

Although the name li (李) means plum tree the term li means civil servant, functionnaire, bureaucrat. li4

使 shi3

Ambassador. To differentiate the ambassador from a mere historian or civil servant administrative scholar the human determinant is added to the left. 大使馆 dashiguan embassy. shi3

更 geng

This is the night watchman he bears a drum and beats out the time every Two Hours. By extension: exchange, rotation. The idea is that of the night watchman so it’s meaning requires a bit of context. The guard walks the central (中) field (田) between two competing armies. His patrol rounds are TWO HOURS; CHANGING (of the guard). geng1 One civil servant walks the field at two a.m. to sound the night watch of the changing of the guard.

更 geng

This is the night watchman  By extension: more. His patrol is two MORE hours. One civil servant walks the field (田) at two a.m. to sound the night watch of the changing of the guard. geng4

便 bian

Convenient; euphemism for using the toilet because it is ORDINARY and CONVENIENT to USE THE TOILET

Memotechnique: some guy at 2 a.m. off to the side of the night watchman taking a piss in the woods. This is why he is not an ambassador historian or civil servant! bian4

便 pian

Cheap, inexpensive. Pian2. CHEAP things cost a penny pianyi. Cheap things are convenient.

子曰、非禮 勿視、非禮勿聽、非禮勿言、非禮勿動。

“The words of Confucius: Do not look at that which is improper, do not listen to that which is improper, do not say that which is improper, and do not do that which is improper.” Analects

子曰、非礼 勿视、非礼勿听、非礼勿言、非礼勿动。

Zǐ yuē, fēilǐ wù shì, fēilǐ wù tīng, fēilǐ wù yán, fēilǐ wù dòng.

and the truth will set you free.

I never said you would like the truth.

I also never promised riches, or even survival.

Be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.

羊 goat
羊肉 goat meat
群 crowd
群众 masses
海洋 ocean
海洋馆 customs house
怎么样 how about
不怎么样 not much
一样 same thing
跟一样
样子 appearance face visage
各种各样 any type, any kind, i.e. assorted
样式 type, style
榜样 example, model
模样 look style fashion of appearance
样品 sample specimen
照样 as usual
氧气 oxygen
二氧化碳 carbon dioxide to be continued and colorized

翅
翼
翔
飞翔
详细
安详
福
神
组神
羡慕
盖
盘
盒
盆
覆盖
盖章
膝盖
掩盖
善良
改善
善于
完善
慈善
妥善
饲养 它们在农场里饲养动物
养成
培养
营养
保养
抚养
教养
饲养
修养
美丽
美好
美丽
美
美景
美术
完美
优美
赞美
美观
美满
美妙
审美
物美价廉
着急
着
着急
接着
随着
着火
着凉
执着
沉着
意味着
着手
着迷
着想
着重
差
差点儿
差不多
出差
时差
差距
偏差
差别
误差
相差
害羞
羞耻

佥 qian1 all

检 jian3 check inspect examine

俭 jian3 frugal thrifty

捡 jian3 collect gather

剑 jian4 sword

脸 lian3 visage face

险 xian3 danger

签 qian1 signature

验 yan4 examine inspect

佥 is a simplified character. The simplified form resembles a box of lots as in draw straws. In Chinese culture such lots were used not only for divination but also were used by courts when issuing sentences of judgement. Thus the idea of the image is inspection selection judgement. These are all final -ian and  initial j,q,x are the most frequent initials. Words that rhym with IAN and imply inspection selection and judgement are indicated.

佥 ALL – looks like an A on top of an L.
Depicts a box of lots. ALL have a destiny, a fate. qian1

检 MATERIAL+ALL = inspect THE MATERIAL jian3

俭 ALL PEOPLE are FRUGAL jian3

捡 HANDs ALL PICK UP things such as cast lots. jian3

剑 ALL KNIVES may be used as SWORDS jian4

脸 BODIES: ALL have a FACE lian3

险 CLIFFS ALL are DANGEROUS,xian3

签 BAMBOO brushes are used in ALL SIGNATURES qian1

验 INSPECT! HORSES ALL require INSPECTION yan4

检验 jian3yan4
检讨jian3tao3
检查jian3cha2

勤俭qin2jian3 dilligence

脸红lian3hong1 blush

保险bǎoxiǎn insurance
风险fēngxiǎn risk
冒险màoxiǎn adventure
危险wei1xian3 danger

签署qiānshǔ signature
签证qiānzhèng visa

化验Huàyàn chemical test
检验jiǎnyàn test
考验kǎoyàn  ordeal
试验shìyàn experiment
验收yànshōu check and accept
验证yànzhèng test and verify

子丑寅卯辰巳午未申由戌亥

Zi chǒu yín
mǎo chén sì
wǔ wèi
shēn yóu
xū hài

z ch y m ch s w w sh y x h

zun cho-clown
tiger-target-yin
mortise-slot-mao
clam-cutter-chen
snaky-baby-si
12 noon-woo
tree-not-yet-way
god-lightning-shen
cause-candle-oil
yo hshu spear
big-boar-hi

one-son ugly-clown
target-tiger mortise-mao
clam-cutter snaky-baby
12-noon not-yet
lightning-god candle-cause
seven-spear big-boar

zee cho yin mao chen
see woo way shen shoo
yo hi

北斗七星 bei dou qi xing ursa major

天枢  SKY PIVOT (贪狼 voracious wolf) 
天璇 HEAVENLY JADE (巨门 big gate)
天玑 SK PEARL (禄存 lucky deposit) 
天权  HEAVENLY POWER (文曲  cultured song) 
玉衡 JADE MEASURE (廉贞 incorruptible chaste)
开阳  OPEN SUN (武曲 martial song)
瑶光  JADE LIGHT (破军 broken army)
左辅 LEFT AID (洞明 bright cave) 
隐元 CONCEALED MONEY (右弼 RIGHT AID)

These three characters look alike and are high frequency, they are good characters for judgement.

真 zhen1

is originally an image of two people at a food pot: the food is represented by the cross on top and it is GENUINE. The two people transformed into two hands beneath the food pot is the square in the middle. They are inspecting the food to make sure it is GENUINE
Zealous
Heartfelt
Expressive
Newbies REAL

其 qi2

this is a high frequency example of a rare method for forming characters: 假借 iǎ jiè or “borrowed” “phonetic loan” characters. It’s an image of a woven dustpan, but that character was “borrowed” to represent the same sound in the more general context of IT HIS HERS THEIR SUCH THAT
Basket on top, 2 graspy hands below.

Query
Intellectuals IT

Question
IT.

具ju4

is the image of two hands (the dots below) handling a pot of food on top (the square with lines). See hanziyuan thereto.
TOOL

Justice
Usually  MASK, TOOL, FURNITURE

家具 jia1ju4 furniture
面具 mian4ju4 mask
具 ju4 tool

So here is a sample sentence using all three:

我不是魔鬼，我是真的。 其他的人穿面具，我没有。

真 real
生活的其他的人 the lives of others
面具 masks

Hui yi zi are those characters formed by combining two other characters to express some meaning common to both; the canonical example is ming, bright, congming de ming. It’s the image of the sun and moon together in the sky; the two brightest objects representing together the idea “bright”.

This is a list of Chinese huiyizi. I do not know with certainty whether it is complete, it likely isn’t since around 15% of Chinese characters are huiyizi.

Unfortunately I have yet to find a really good translation of hui yi zi: it literally means “meeting idea characters”. I translate it as associative idea characters, which is the concept, but unfortunately there seems to be no canonical term for them in English, even though they are an important character class and are why students have difficulty pronouncing characters. If you know you are looking at a huiyizi and not a picto-phonetic character you are likelier to recognize its’ meaning and even to recall its pronunciation.

I have not yet added definitions of these terms to this list. This post is thus just a placeholder for now.

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罒

It is the observant eye of providence looking upon the glorious realm for any who violate law entrapping such in a NET.

It is both EYE and NET.

Gaze of gauze.

罩

zhao4

Cover, Shade.

Net Eyeball on top.
Excellence zhou underneath.

力目标

Beware my powerful purpose.

愚公移山

劳工阶级

lao2gong4 jie4ji2

the working class

labor
arbeit
obrero LABOR TOIL WORK 劳

who has power in the farmer’s stall? grass+roof+power=work 劳

grinders
oil-cans
nuts
gears TOOL 工 (picture of ancient chinese spade-fork).

jie RANK 阶
(at the foothills outside the city +
insert, introduce  — overlapping scaled armor=
A RANKER 阶

ji GRADE 级
(honored scroll of thread+overtake=Degree)
EXCEEDED AND OVERTOOK HONORABLY. 级

生死有命

sheng si you ming

birth and death are fated

富贵在天

fu gui zai tian

riches and honor in heaven

相对概念

xiangdui gainian

mutual paired general read-aloud-memorize = relative concept.

leet.

心快慢情忙

xin heart kuai quick man slow qing emotion wang forget (mang blind)

冒mao4

曼漫慢man4

mao hat man long handsome man inundate free unrestrained man de lian ai

澡燥躁璪趮 zao

bath parched hot tempered pearled pendant easily provoked

喿 sao chirping of birds

衃 pei

挑

tiao3 carry on a pole (hand plus omen; because omens would be carried around for all to see, I guess)

衅

xin4 blood sacrifice (blood drop on top left dripping into a sacrificial dish on bottom left, symbol of split in half on the right, I believe it’s a tree trunk split down the middle.)

挑衅 tiao3 xin4. provoke (hand+omen)+(blood+split in half)=PROVOCATION

黄huang yellow

yellow originally da big + sun ri. simplified and added jade yellow necklace to make the point clearer. I have seen this elsewhere as an archery target or perhaps cured leather which changes its color when stretched out in the sun. Whatever it’s etymology HUANG2 = YELLOW.

“形声字、以事为名、取譬相成、江河是也”

Pictophonetic characters are so named because they are chosen to complement each other by example; e.g.  Yangtze, river.

——

牢 lao

stall, prison. cow under a roof is it’s picture. this one is a huiyizi.

linkword: lousy 牢子 lao zi.

囚犯躲开了打击 the prisoner dodged the blow

石岩沙矿硬 石英 石像

盜

dao

Thief. It is literally an image of a thief drooling on top of a gold bowl. Top left is dots of sputum. Below is the gold bowl. On the top right is the thief.

D.rooling
A.nd
O.bnoxious
THIEF

寺庙

si4miao4 temple ancestral shrine
pinch earth on the left cause of the universal shelter on the right
S.hrIne
I.
M.ighty
I.nfluential
A.ncestral
O.rnate TEMPLE

等诗持

诗

shi1 poem

S.cripture
H.eavenly
I.ncantation POEMS

持

chi2

C.lasp
H.old
I.t GRASP HOLD SUPPORT

等

deng

et cetera,

wait

无为而治

[wú wéi ér zhì]

govern by doing nothing that goes against nature

link-word: worry

memotechnique: don’t worry

W.hats
U.p? NOTHING

We
Each
Intend BECAUSE OF CAUSE

Eric
Reads  BUT

Zhukov’s
Ideas GOVERN

government is the public stage upon which public life starts;
governance addresses the rights and duties to public waters and waterways such as wells rivers streams and oceans.

水能载舟 亦能覆舟

shui3 neng2 zai3 zhou1, yi4 neng2 fu4 zhou1

water carries the boat but can also capsize it …

监 篮 蓝 jian1 lan2 lan2 This character series has been simplified beyond recognition. The bottom part min dish pan may also be a simplification or reuse of eye or net, since there is certainly the sense of caught up in with these three characters. This was originally the image of a man with a big eye inspecting a dish.
https://hanziyuan.net/#%E7%9B%91

stick stick bamboo pan rhymes with lan
gun gun zhuzitou min stupid character let me in!

监

jian prison inspect supervise hard
Jail
Inspect
And
Notify

篮

lan2
basket

luo is Chinese for multistory building which is woven together like a basket.

蓝

lan2

blue, indigo plant

I dislike this character because it was simplified beyond any recognition, and this simplification occurred prior to AND after the CCP took power. It should simply be redone entirely OR restored to something much closer to its oracle bone form since most writing these days is typing and not hand writing.

Chinese word order is
S.ubject T.ime P.lace M.anner V.erb O.bject.

STP is a famous brand of motor oil.

STP Motor Vehicle Oil

STPMVO

Now you have a mnemonic whereby you should remember proper Chinese word order.

思念 si nian to miss (someone)

是 shi is

一 yi a

种 zhong type

病 bing sickness

“My mama asked me why I never vote”.

in the FALL 秋

i am WORRIED 愁

Qiu 秋
Autumn = grain + fire (bonfire’s in fall as symbol of fall) FALL, AUTUMN

Chou 愁
Worried= heart+autumn WORRIED

Susy is Cozy 舒适

shushi is COZY

stretch+appropriate=Cozy, Comfortable.

克

this ke is the CONQUEROR’S HELMET it means DOMINATE CONQUER SUBDUE RESTRAIN

课

this ke is the FRUIT OF THE LECTURE

嗑

this ke is the MOUTH Going to CRUNCH SEEDS from a Pan

All are 4th tone. shan

啟

qi3 open

dakai de yi si

hand knocks on door; mouth asks “who’s there”, hand opens door.

Oracle bone script had no mouth. Simplified has no hand.

Open Mouth
Push Door with Hand
Enter
Now QI3

妙语如珠 clever words are like pearls

Miao4 yu3 ru2 zhu1

妙 miao4

clever

My,
Intelligent
Amazing
Observation CLEVER

woman on the left 女, few on the right 少; few women are clever (to be clever is outstanding and thus rare) and clever women use few words.

语 yu

language, words

You
Understand LANGUAGE WORDS

5 mouths talking 言五口. talking on the left言, 5 on top right五, mouth on the lower right 口

如 ru

like, as

Rightly
Understood LIKE, AS

mouthy on the right woman on the left, she said it was just LIKE that AS a symbol of comparison.

珠 zhu

pearl/pearls. Jade on the left shows it’s a precious hard structured and possibly well worked item

王 wang king on the left but as a radical often means jade because the king’s men carried a jade amulet as the seal of royal authority proving their power. The right is a chopped log seen from above 朱zhu1, we can see it’s spiral ring structure, it means red because the interior of a chopped tree is reddish.

Linkword JEWEL pearls are ZHUals.

Miao4 yu3 ru2 zhu1 “speech is silver”