Chinese characters (basic)

人 rén — Looks like a person walking on two legs.

person

大 dà — A person 人 stretches their arms out wide to show something BIG.

big

天 tiān — Add a line above 大: the SKY is above a big person.

sky; day

口 kǒu — Looks like an open mouth.

mouth

目 mù — Looks like an eye turned sideways.

eye

日 rì — Looks like a bright sun in the sky.

sun; day

月 yuè — Looks like the shape of a crescent moon.

moon; month

山 shān — Looks like three mountain peaks.

mountain

川 chuān — Looks like streams of water flowing between riverbanks.

river

水 shuǐ — Looks like water splashing and flowing.

water

火 huǒ — Looks like flames rising from a fire.

fire

木 mù — Looks like a tree with a trunk, branches, and roots.

tree; wood

林 lín — Two trees 木 + 木 make a small woods.

woods

森 sēn — Three trees 木 + 木 + 木 make a big forest.

forest

门 mén — Looks like a doorway you can walk through.

door

雨 yǔ — Looks like drops of rain falling from the sky.

rain

田 tián — Looks like a farm field divided into sections.

field

土 tǔ — Looks like something growing up from the earth.

earth; soil

石 shí — Imagine a big stone sitting under a cliff.

stone; rock

刀 dāo — Looks like the curved shape of a knife.

knife

弓 gōng — Looks like a bent bow ready to shoot an arrow.

bow

手 shǒu — Originally looked like a hand with fingers.

hand

足 zú — Originally looked like a foot.

foot

耳 ěr — Looks a little like the shape of an ear.

ear

女 nǚ — Originally showed a woman kneeling.

woman; female

子 zǐ — Originally looked like a small child with arms stretched out.

child

牛 niú — Looks like the head and horns of a cow.

cow

羊 yáng — Looks like a sheep or goat with horns.

sheep

马 mǎ — Originally looked like a horse with its mane and legs.

horse

鸟 niǎo — Originally looked like a bird with a beak, body, and tail.

bird

鱼 yú — Originally looked like a fish with a head, body, and tail.

fish

上 shàng — The mark is ABOVE the line.

up; above

下 xià — The mark is BELOW the line.

down; below

中 zhōng — A line goes right through the MIDDLE.

middle; center

本 běn — Start with a tree 木 and mark its ROOT at the bottom.

root; origin

休 xiū — A person 人 leans against a tree 木 to REST.

rest