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.