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depressed
̦有yǒu + 阝
possess + city walls
Character Notes

You possess personal city walls when you are depressed.

Character Comparison
Series

lěi
baseball base
3厶 + 土
3 monuments + soil
Character Notes

Imagine the Washington D.C. mall as a huge baseball field for giants with the Lincoln Memorial as home plate, Jefferson Memorial as first base, Washington Monument as second base and the White House as third base. There would be a lot of soil to cover as you ran the bases.

Character Comparison
Series

nài
can't help but
大 + 示
large dog + altar
Character Notes

Picture a situation where you or someone else can't help but put their large dog on the altar to sacrifice for a greater cause. (Maybe their child is allergic, and they have to give the dog away?)

Character Comparison
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small box
合hé + 皿
fit + dish
Character Notes

Picture a lid fitted on a dish, making it a small box.

Character Comparison
Series

qióng
poor
穴 + 力
hole + muscle
Character Notes

After a hole in his muscle prevented him from working, he soon became poor.

Character Comparison
Series

náng
sack [n.]
亠 + 中 + 冖 + 襄xiāng
top hat + middle + crown + Jiminy Cricket
Character Notes

Look carefully at this character, as several components separate or blend. Picture Jiminy Cricket in the middle of a sack, wearing a crown rather than his top hat (which is on top of the sack).

Character Comparison
Series

IV
X + I + 聿
staples + Great Wall + writing brush
Character Notes

This character can be used as a formal word for the number 4. Picture artifacts like staples and a writing brush dating from the year IV being found in the Great Wall.

Character Comparison
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bīn
water's edge
氵 + 宾bīn
water + visitor
Character Notes

A visitor stands on the water's edge.

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huō
breach
害hài + 谷
harm + valley
Character Notes

A shake has split open or breached the valley causing harm.

Character Comparison
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gǎng
hillock
山 + 冈gāng
mountain + ridge
Character Notes

Under the mountain ridge is a hillock.

Character Comparison
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wàn
wrist
月 + 宛wǎn
body part + winding
Character Notes

The body part that can make the most winding motion is your wrist.

Character Comparison
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lèi
rib
月 + 力lì
body part + muscle
Character Notes

There are muscles between your ribs called intercostal muscles.

Character Comparison
Series

miǎo
insignificant
泪 + 少shǎo
tears + few
Character Notes

Imagine saying, "This seems to be an insignificant problem if the tears are few."

Character Comparison
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zhā
bellow
口 + 乇
mouth + fur ball
Character Notes

Imagine a bellow coming from a fur ball's mouth.

Character Comparison
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chin
臣modified + 页
loft bed + head
Character Notes

The common word for chin is 下巴, but this literary word is part of the name of the Summer Palace in Beijing 颐和园. Characters with the 页head component are often parts of the head: forehead 额, cheek 颊, neck 领, face 颜, etc. If you turn the left-hand component of this character 90 degrees counterclockwise, it could look like a chin. Or maybe you are looking up at someone on a loft bed and just see their chin hanging over.

Character Comparison
颊 jiá cheek
Series

prostitute
女 + 支zhī
woman + branch
Character Notes

A prostitute is the woman on a branch of the family tree that no one talks about.

Character Comparison
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lán
impede
扌 + 兰lán
hand + orchid
Character Notes

You put out your hand to impede someone from touching the royal orchid.

Character Comparison
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save up
艹 + 畜chù
flowers + livestock
Character Notes

Mahana grew flowers while Johnny Lingo saved up livestock.

Character Comparison
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chù
livestock
玄 + 田
mysterious + field
Character Notes

There is a mysterious practice of going into a field at night and tipping over livestock.

Character Comparison
Series
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