na3li?nali3? 哪里？ 那儿！ na4er! Quickly understanding tones in Chinese
哪里？ na3 那儿！ na4! Where?3 There!4 I think the easiest way for anglos to get tones is to use the…
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主 Lord! 注意！ Pay attention! ZHU
主住注驻柱拄疰蛀 主lord owner host 住live dwell reside 注concentrate pour 驻stop stay station 柱column pillar 拄to lean on to prop up…
Deciphering Chinese Characters: Pictogram Palace
Pictogram palace, English language dictionary Chinese character dictionary keyed to Hanzi Gong 汉字宫 Kindle Print Edition Chinese characters combine pictures,…
All HSK characters with 人 determinant in descending frequency
This post lists ALL HSK characters with the 人ren (person) determinant. They all have something to do with people. They…
The Universal Translator: BEER 啤酒
“pee joe” is Chinese for beer. It looks like this 啤酒 jiu3 means any kind of alcohol if you specifically…
VOODOO CHINESE 520
I want to inject you with cock’s blood 打鸡血 because you are a sexy fox spirit! 狐狸精 打鸡血 to motivate…
Learn to read Chinese EASILY with Pictogram Palace.
一 one (sideways Roman I) 十 ten (sideways Roman X) 木 tree (picture of a tree) 米 rice (picture of…
NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE INFORMATION CAME FROM OR IS GOING TO
皂 seven bright white suns? SOAP ZAO4 Z.ang! A.pply O.rdnung! 白皙 Here’s Something Incredibly WHITE tree+ax=analyze, split split the…
MAGIC Blocks from the eastern quarter. 东方魔块
Ready player one!
Crush scorpions, interrogate criminals, that’s how i roll. 厉害Lihai
厉害lihai44 The closest literal translation would be “terribly” (terribly good, terribly bad). 厉li4 means strict。Image is of scorpions under a…
MAGIC
Chinese is magic! It can turn SOUND 音yin1 into SHADOW 暗an4 亮 LIANG LIGHT L.ight I.s A. N.ice G.odsend LIGHT…
真的假的？
假 = 人+尸+二+丁+又 This character represents the idea of one personren giving and another person receiving something FAKE. Person+Body+2+nail(?)+hand This…
HEAVENSENT
虽然站在黑暗里1244143 sui1ran2 zhan4 zai4 hei1an4 li3 但他们守护是光明41534412 dan4 ta1men5 shou3hu4 shi4 guang1ming2 Altbough standing in darkness they are protecting the…
Carrie Lam 成事不足，败事有余
成事不足，败事有余 Literal meaning: Accomplish affair not foot Lose affair has surplus Carrie Lam is a person who is 成事不足，败事有余. Someone…
Jin1 Xin4 Yin2 Hang2 金信银行
Jin Xin Yin Hang 金信银行 (X in Chinese is pronounced hs or hsh) 金 gold. The dots are the gold…
The School and the Stick 老 者 孝 教 号 考
老 者 孝 教号 考 Sometimes it’s useful to study characters visually by looking at graphically related characters which are…
开关升并廾 Katie bar the door 卡铁把都
开关升并廾 It is useful sometimes to study characters as related visual groups rather than as related phonemes. This is because…
杀鸡取卵
杀鸡取卵 杀sha1 kill slaughter x marks the spot to chop on the log 木 linkword: slaughter, slay 鸡ji1 chicken a…
即既 昏 选择 游客 偏僻 关注 著 省 乡镇
即既 昏 选择 游客 偏僻 关注 著 省 乡镇 即ji2 the man on his knees on the right PROMPTLY, APPROACHED…
忽然 突然
忽 H.asty U.nprepared hu1 is CARELESS 忽 勿 勿 wu4 do not (ancient daggar dao1 刀 with blood 彡shan1 SHADOW…
认识论ren4shi2lun2 epistemology
认识论ren4shi2lun2 epistemology theory of knowledge 觉得jue2de2 to think, to feel 认为ren4wei2 to be of the opinion that 以为yi4wei2 to err.…
Primitive Machines…
机ji1 the first machines were made of wood 木mu4。 几ji is a tea-table. Here however the tea table character is…
绕 挠
挠 nod noggin now SCRATCH forehead with hand pictogram is originally of a potter 儿 with pottery at his kiln…
李紫婷《愛情宗師》
shadowless foot is there any noble style? legs entwined kick you to buddha’s mountain lost track of fists to distinguish…
讨 T.ailored A.ccess O.perations 讨
言 Y.elling A.bout N.oise2 WORDS SPEECH TALKING It’s a mouth 口kou3 at the bottom and sound waves and air are…
戈 我，成，或，战，戏，戴，戒，截，戚 does Scorsese speak Chinese?
戈 我，成，或，战，戏，戴，戒，截，戚 戈ge1 halbred 我wo3 成cheng2 become 或huo4 or 战zhan4 war battle 戏xi trick drama play (“shakespeare” hand+spear=drama) 戴DAI4 to…
Xi West is a Nest 西
西xi1 West is a Nest: 西xi1 is a stylized and simplified picture of a bird’s nest. Because Birds were thought…
Firing Solution： 白天
欠qian4 欠 is a picture of a mouth on top it’s wide open food isn’t going into it words aren’t…
SUBWAYS => SUBSIDE (MSS Decrypt: 地铁)
dirt + double-headed snake + gold + failure = UNDERGROUND 地铁 dietie is a subway alright and by all means…
How to learn Chinese characters (hanzi 汉字）
System: Started out by focusing on the kangxi radicals, once I understood those 213 characters reiterated form (including abbreviated forms)…
A List of Chinese pictographs
Believe it or not these are all pictograms: Highly stylized and simplified pictures of literal objects. Pictograms are the basis…
Who am I? A talking bird 谁, the sun at dawn, upright, once stopped on high. 是
Chinese characters are fundamentally pictures but what is depicted is rarely immediately obvious because of simplification, reuse of pictorial elements…
“Our God is none other than the Chinese people.” Mao Zedong
In “Rules for Radicals” Alinsky teaches a good radical tactic is to point out your opponent’s statements — and then…
Encipher: 厌倦yan4juan and 厌恶yan4wu4
厌倦yan4juan 厌恶yan4wu4 犬quan3 big bad dog mean and mad war dog hunting dog Q.uite U.gly A.nd N.asty VICIOUS GUARD DOG…
生sheng1 EnCIphEREd
生sheng1 S.prout H.ealthy E,ternal N.ew G.ermination SPROUT LIFE LIVE GROW GIVE BIRTH! 生sheng1 is the image of a plant freshly…
歹 dai3 EVIL
挂牛头卖马肉 gua niu2 tou2 mai ma rou Literally “to hang an ox head and sell horsemeat” i.e. to cheat customers.…
我的肚子饿楼！
街jie1 = 行xing2 + 鞋xie2 行xing2 is a cross roads. Memory trick: A CROSSWALK IS A PED XING What…
DECODING SHENG 胜 VICTORY: MSS DECRYPT
This 胜 sheng4 means victory. S.he H.ears E.veryone, E.ternal N.ight G.oddess 胜 is originally the image of a boat on…
爱 ai4
爱 Traditional ai4 has a heart. Simplified doesn’t because it’s a private matter also because communists wanted to emphasize non-romantic…
CRIB: A NATO OF SHOPKEYPRS
你疯啊？ Feng 风 means wind. It’s etymologically related to “sail”. I found 风 easiest to remember as the wind of…
Honey Draws Flies … in Chinese.
苍蝇不叮无缝的蛋 苍 gray (clue:granary 仓) cang1 蝇 flies (bug on left frog on right) ying2 不 don’t (picture of a…
RED TEAM FTW! 圣怪快
圣 S.acred sage saint H.oly he’s E.ternal N.ow G.od SAGE SAINT SHENG4 his Right Hand is once AGAIN touching Dirt.…
幸
Xing4 幸 was originally the image of two people bound by the feet. The 土 and inverted 土 here were…
Cannot Unsee 盒 會
合 He2 Close, Shut, Combine, Join, Fit It’s a pictogram of two mouths kissing! Aw. 🙂 H.is E.xpression CLOSE SHUT…
我的耳机怀了 my earphones are broken
坏 TBH To Be Honest it’s BROKEN TU+BU=HUAI4 Tu 土 T.his U.nearthed clump of DIRT EARTH wall of clay as…
尸屎避辟辛口 刃勿弃廾升𠫓厶
尸 is the ceremonial display of a corpse post-mortem. S.o H.e I.s1 A FUNERARY CORPSE ON DISPLAY The meaning of…
How to learn Hanzi (Chinese characters) 岚
岚 Lan2 Mountain-mist L.iquid A.bove N.ow MOUNTAIN-MIST shAN 山 mountain (pictogram: depicts 3 peaks of mountain range) feng 风 wind…
Grain rained down from heaven, for humans had learned to read. 口儿兄兑说脱
口儿兄兑说脱 口 kou mouth talking ” k.ay, o.pen u.p 儿 er legs standing e.xtensive r.each 八 ba eight (divide) B.reak…
客 ke4 KliEnt guEst
客 Who is a person who walks around under your roof talking talking blablabla? that is a guest, a client,…
父亲 father
父 I was taught fu is a pair of crossed axes as a symbol of father’s power. It may be…
就是你啊！ ：D Then it’s just You! <3
就 Jiu4 Left side is a tall tower as symbol and seat of the capitol itself! 京 jing1 is a…
Nasty.
忠 bullseye target center up top 中 zhong4 heart below 心xin1 忠 it means LOYAL, sounds like zhong1 Z.ealous H.eart…
Confucius’ words are more and more on the lips of the world.
From The Three Character Couplet. “Man at birth Is quite good Their nature, similar but paths diverge.” … “If they…
矢石俱下 the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
矢石俱下 shi3 shi2 ju4 xia4 矢 arrow. it’s a picture of an arrow moving from left or right going over…
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流光飛舞 Flowing light fluttering
流光飛舞 Flowing light fluttering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htSdR0wIeu4 陳淑樺 詞曲︰黃霑，編曲：雷頌德 半冷半暖秋天 熨貼在你身邊 Half cold, half warm, autumn Reconciled to be next to you 靜靜看著流光飛舞…
Amitoufo
Amida, in the heart space, you teach me don’t covet or hate Amida, in the heart space, throw off the…
闭嘴？不行！bi zui? no way! mouth closed? oppose! （oui gotta stop meting like This)
闭 bi4 闭=門+才 門 men2 means door 才cai2 says sprout cai2 is literally a sprout or half a block of…
去睡觉 to go to sleep qu shui jiao
去睡觉 to go to sleep qu shui jiao 去 去 qu4 is a clump of earth tu3 土 on top…
Chinese has two words for again: you4 又 (past) and zai4 再 (future)
又再 Chinese has two words for again: you4 又 and 再 zai4 又 you4 is a highly simplified picture of…
者 邑 都 猪
者 zhe3 means: -er, -ist (actor, doer) 邑 yi4 city gates. as abbreviated determinant 阝 ALL the Actors are At…
阜 邑 Fooey! F.ed U.p to my ears with ex-urban AND urban radicals!
阜 Fu4 This fu is the nearest hill or mountain range or ridgeline outside the city. In other words, it’s…
Rolling Mobile Street Party Coming Soon
to a post office near You!
Pageface Doormouth 页 问 234
页 Pageface ye4, Pageface, used as a stand-alone it means page of paper in modern Chinese but used as a…
美 mei beautiful (..the men who stare at goats)
美 Mei3 美 is a fun character. It’s a picture of a beautiful girl with her hair adorned in great…
没问题 = no problem, i.e. no question
没 mei2 is originally the image of a person drowning to death. it came to mean NOT as in DOES…
贵 gui4 PRECIOUS EXPENSIVE
贵 gui4 PRECIOUS EXPENSIVE 贵 = 中一贝 Above is 中 the idea of 中正, which is Public Rectitude. The middle…
师 Shi1 Chief Meister Expert Master
师 On the left we see the abbreviated form of KNIFE, BLADE as the determinant (key). 刀 dao means knife.…
Negative Example.
Holodomir, NKVD summary executions, Gulags, Katyn, Rape of Berlin, Mayak Kyshtym, Aral Sea, Chernobylthe glorious dictatorship which killed off millions…
棒球= 王求一丶水木丰廾丰 qiu ming
Qiu 求 to bid for help is a hard and important one so I took my time. Let’s start with…
Mid Autumn Festival / 老师节
No matter how far apart we are we both look on high to the same moon in the sky
Information Warfare
The essence of information warfare is to infiltrate the enemy’s decision making; to change the way the enemy views the…
无 Character series
This character series consists entirely of words which have the sound WU. 勿无乌物午五武舞误务雾 Mouseover the characters below to see the…
废话 fei hua
All these words are homophones of fei. 吠 barking dog fei4 肺 lung fei4 非 don’t no negation fei1 飞…
SPINE ji3 脊 Backbone
脊 Pictogram of the spine (backbone); two 二 characters are the shoulder-blades or ribs. 人 character is like an arrow…
Translation 求佛 Beseech Buddha
当月光洒在我的脸上when the moonlit dew fell on my face我想我就快变了模样i wished then i’d quickly change form有一种叫做撕心裂肺的汤there is a type of soup called…
备 奋 Look alikes
备 and 奋 look alike but are different. You will most frequently encounter 备 in 准备 which means: get ready,…
汉字开花
人 小 尔 你 上 止 正 一 日 旦 是 言 隹 谁 你是谁？
系 System
系 System Xi4 The top character is not 一 yi1 which means 1. It is the falling left stroke as…
字幕 subtitles
幕 Mu means curtain. let’s break it down! we see jin 巾 below which is a pictogram of a cloth…
参 can1/shen1 JOIN IN
参 can1/shen1 In modern Chinese you will most often see this as 参加 can1jia1 to participate. This character literally means…
巢 Chao2 Nest
巢 Chao2 NEST Chirping! Hear? An Oriole’s NEST! The three lines on top are the feathers of three birds living…
Wong Fei
只因为在人群中多看了你一眼 this is because once in a crowd i caught you by the eye 再也没能忘掉你的容颜 and because I can’t forget…
闯 Chuang3 BREAKTHROUGH
闖 Horse 马 ma3 at the gate 門 men2 is an ideograph which means BREAKTHROUGH RUSH it is the image…
Steve Miller
A politico named Steve Miller has recently come into the limelight. Purportedly he ate glue as a 9 year old…
撰 Zhuan4 Compile Compose
撰 手+共+巳巳 = tishoupang zhuan 撰 hand+pick up object together + already already = COMPILE COMPOSE Zillion Holdings University Anthology…
Preview of Chinese Character Dictionary
This character series consists entirely of words which have the sound WU. 勿无乌物午五武舞误务雾 Mouseover the characters below to see the…
Chinese Sentence Order STPMVO
Chinese has no conjugations or declensions. Consequently word order is fixed and invariable. A Chinese sentence MUST be structured as…
How to learn Chinese characters
How to learn Hanzi: 1) Learn the Kangxi radicals first. They are the alphabet (syllabry). then 2) Learn the pictograms…
甲骨文
Pictograms are picture-words. Ideograms are abstract symbols. Pictograms and ideograms are the basis of written Chinese.
彩虹 caihong RAINBOW 32
彩虹 cai3hong2 RAINBOW 彩CAI Collect All Illumination = COLORS 采菜彩踩 cai3/4 Pick, pluck; pick a vegetable (dish); pick a light…
彩虹 collect all illumination hanging orange now green RAINBOW
彩虹 caihong彩CAICollectAllIlluminationCOLORS彩采菜踩 虹HONGHighOrangeNowGreenRAINBOW RIBBONRed serpent ribbon in the sky!虫工红虹 pluck a color or a shade of the red serpent in…
佳jia1 J.ade I.ndicates A.dmirable1! BEST EXCELLENT SUPERIOR TERRIFIC FINE BEAUTIFUL GOOD
佳jia1=FINE BEAUTIFUL EXCELLENT GOOD BESTOn the left: the abbreviated form of 人ren2， personOn the right: 土tu3 earth on top of…
碧 Blue-Green Jade
碧 BlueIrridescentJADE, GREEN BLUE JADE 白 is the phonetic clue.碧 王 and 石 are semantic clues. Wang indicates royalty and…
冗 and 亢
冗 and 亢 look alike, but 亢 has a dot on top and is just one line with no overhang.…
hui 慧
a spirit that sweeps through the sky allow me now to clarify this hui of which the poet sings is…
Pictogram Palace Supplement: Chinese Prefixes and Suffixes
Chinese has prefixes and suffixes, much like English does. Here is a list of them. -们 (men): -s -地 (de):…
变色龙 – Chameleon 2 successive fourth tones.
变色龙 bian4 se4 long2 One of the reasons I love to stare at Chinese glyphs is because they often reveal…