Mandarin Banana

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Tommy Turtle (tu-) wants to fix a cross (十) on a flute (一) in the space station (-3). It's hard to do it in outer space, so he uses some dust and clay (土) to fix the two things together.

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Outer space and earth

I hope that this is an officially approved experiment, surely lots of dirt will get into the instruments! By now I'm sure that you can see how 土 is formed by the other characters. This character appears in many other characters, often at the bottom or left-hand side, which means that it potentially conveys meaning. I'll get back to that point later.

We've seen some animals before: Willy Walrus for "wu" and Gitta Giraffe for "gu". When an initial contains the letter "u", an animal will pop up to encode this piece of information in an picture that will stick in your brain, in this case, Tommy Turtle for "tu".

There's one character left, a very important one on its own, before we come to the character for "five".

土

tu3 =
tu + Ø3

Tu (ethnic group) / surname Tu | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 土

tu3 =
tu + Ø3

earth / dust / clay / local / indigenous / crude opium / unsophisticated / one of the eight ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1] | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 土

Tommy Turtle (tu) wants to fix a cross (十) on a flute (一) in the space station (Ø3). It's hard to do it in outer space, so he uses some dust and clay (土) to fix the two things together. - Mnemonic by Matthias, over 4 years ago | add a painting

Image by Matthias,
about 4 years ago

土
=
十
+
一

十

shi2 =
sh + Ø2

ten / 10 | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 十

Sherlock Holmes (sh-) is investigating a very strange thing, which just arrived at the entrance of the space station (-2): A big pyramid made of ten (十) crosses (十), which are in turn made out of flutes (一) and dinosaur bones (丨). - Mnemonic by Matthias, over 4 years ago | add a painting

Image by Matthias,
about 4 years ago

十
=
一
+
丨

一

yi1 =
y + Ø1

one / 1 / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 一

Maud Younger (y) plays her flute (一) in front of the space station (Ø1). - Mnemonic by Matthias, almost 5 years ago | add a painting

Image by Matthias,
almost 5 years ago

Image by Matthias,
about 4 years ago

十
=
一
+
丨

丨

gun3 =
gu + (e)n3

radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 2) | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 丨

This character shall be represented by a dinosaur bone when it appears in other characters. - Mnemonic by Matthias, over 4 years ago | add a painting

Image by Matthias,
over 4 years ago

Mnemonic symbol: dinosaur bone.

Gitta Giraffe (gu-) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the Forbidden City (-(e)n3). - Mnemonic by Matthias, over 4 years ago | add a painting

Image by Matthias,
about 4 years ago

shu4 =
shu + Ø4

see 豎筆|竖笔[shu4 bi3] | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 丨

土
=
十
+
一

一

yi1 =
y + Ø1

one / 1 / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) | add a mnemonic for this meaning of 一

Maud Younger (y) plays her flute (一) in front of the space station (Ø1). - Mnemonic by Matthias, almost 5 years ago | add a painting

Image by Matthias,
almost 5 years ago

Image by Matthias,
about 4 years ago

土 appears as component in

在

里去坐块走场黑地城周境坏至

社

基增坚压幸墙肚址填塑堵垃圾

王

型域均坦塔培堆壁

吐

尘寺圣堂庄杜墨堡坡埋坛堪墓疆坑垄坟壤塘堤塌捏垫堕灶坝墅墟啬埃圳坠垒坎坊垮坪坤垣牡垦冉壕埔坞垢堑埠堰圭坍墩敖坯塾坷壑坂垛圪埂圩垠墒坳埽垩壹钍圻壅芏垅堋垭堀圮埙坨堇垡茔墉墀堞塬垴垓垧坩坼塄坻垆圯圹埚堙坌塍埒瘗墁埸埤埯坭埘埴垤堍埕埭埏圬堠坜坫塥垲垌堖塏垱壋垯埡墊堊墾垞垝垜垗垖壘垍垈壚壠壟坿塋塓圧圴壙場塲坆坈坋埳壞坒坓壝壜壖壔壒壎壌壊壈壆墺墵墰墬墫墪墦墠墝墻増墐墈塽塵塱塩塡塠塝塙塗塕墖塈塂塁堿堽堳堲堮

堭

堨堧堦堘坕壇壿壻壺壢圼壩毀竈塢甴墳瘞皨竃纒耂墜堃坰赱釷坱⺧埜壄垟隷壓圡夌塚扗圤塿塼堈堄垕垔坲堅圱坵龶⺹垚圥塊坴墮塹堎堌堉埼埵埲埰埧埦埛堝塤塒埗埌埈埇埆埄埀垿垾垺垵

土 has no simplified variant.

HSK level: 5

Pronunciation: Gorodish elements and their mnemonics (what's this?)

tu	Tommy Turtle - Mnemonic by Matthias, over 4 years ago \| add a painting Image by Matthias, about 4 years ago
Ø3	"Ø3" is happening inside the space station. - Mnemonic by Matthias, over 4 years ago \| add a painting Image by Matthias, about 4 years ago

Words with 土

烟 yan1 土 tu3		raw opium
国 guo2 土 tu3 安 an1 全 quan2 局 ju2		Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
不 bu4 服 fu2 水 shui3 土 tu3		(of a stranger) not accustomed to the climate of a new place / not acclimatized
生 sheng1 土 tu3		(agr.) immature soil / virgin soil
田 tian2 土 tu3		farmland
皇 huang2 天 tian1 后 hou4 土 tu3		heaven and earth (idiom)
石 shi2 柱 zhu4 土 tu3 家 jia1 族 zu2 自 zi4 治 zhi4 县 xian4		Shizhu Tujia autonomous county in Qianjiang suburbs of Chongqing municipality
破 po4 土 tu3 典 dian3 礼 li3		ground breaking ceremony
碧 bi4 土 tu3		Putog, former county 1983-1999 in Zogang county 左貢縣\|左贡县[Zuo3 gong4 xian4], Chamdo prefecture, Tibet
碧 bi4 土 tu3 县 xian4		Putog, former county 1983-1999 in Zogang county 左貢縣\|左贡县[Zuo3 gong4 xian4], Chamdo prefecture, Tibet
砖 zhuan1 红 hong2 土 tu3		red brick clay
秀 xiu4 山 shan1 土 tu3 家 jia1 族 zu2 苗 miao2 族 zu2 自 zi4 治 zhi4 县 xian4		Xiushan Miao and Tujia autonomous county in Qianjiang suburbs of Chongqing municipality
稀 xi1 土 tu3 元 yuan2 素 su4		rare earth element (chemistry)
稀 xi1 土 tu3 金 jin1 属 shu3		rare earth element
国 guo2 土 tu3 安 an1 全 quan2		homeland security
筑 zhu4 土 tu3 墙 qiang2		a wall of rammed earth
粉 fen3 土 tu3		dust / sand
印 yin4 江 jiang1 土 tu3 家 jia1 族 zu2 苗 miao2 族 zu2 自 zi4 治 zhi4 县 xian4		Yinjiang Tujia and Hmong autonomous county in Tongren prefecture 銅仁地區\|铜仁地区[Tong2 ren2 di4 qu1], Guizhou
耐 nai4 火 huo3 土 tu3		fire-proof stone / flame resistant material
腐 fu3 殖 zhi2 土 tu3		humus (topsoil of decayed vegetation)
膨 peng2 润 run4 土 tu3		bentonite (mineralogy)
临 lin2 海 hai3 水 shui3 土 tu3 志 zhi4		Seaboard geographic gazetteer (c. 275) by Shen Ying 沈瑩\|沈莹
台 tai2 湾 wan1 土 tu3 狗 gou3		Formosan mountain dog, a breed native to Taiwan
蔫 nian1 土 tu3 匪 fei3		scoundrel with an honest demeanor / see also 蔫兒壞\|蔫儿坏[nian1 r5 huai4]
表 biao3 土 tu3		surface soil / topsoil
视 shi4 如 ru2 土 tu3 芥 jie4		to regard as useless / to view as no better than weeds
视 shi4 如 ru2 粪 fen4 土 tu3		to look upon as dirt / considered worthless
变 bian4 性 xing4 土 tu3		Vertosols (Chinese Soil Taxonomy)
酉 you3 阳 yang2 土 tu3 家 jia1 族 zu2 苗 miao2 族 zu2 自 zi4 治 zhi4 县 xian4		Youyang Miao and Tujia autonomous county in Qianjiang suburbs of Chongqing municipality
酸 suan1 辣 la4 土 tu3 豆 dou4 丝 si1		hot and sour shredded potato
冻 dong4 土 tu3 层 ceng2		permafrost / tundra / layer of frozen soil
铝 lu:3 矾 fan2 土 tu3		bauxite / aluminum ore
钢 gang1 筋 jin1 混 hun4 凝 ning2 土 tu3		reinforced concrete
兵 bing1 来 lai2 将 jiang4 敌 di2 ， , 水 shui3 来 lai2 土 tu3 堰 yan4		counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action / to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
铁 tie3 铝 lu:3 土 tu3		Ferralosols (Chinese Soil Taxonomy)
长 chang2 阳 yang2 土 tu3 家 jia1 族 zu2 自 zi4 治 zhi4 县 xian4		Changyang Tujiazu Autonomous County in Hubei
阿 a1 土 tu3		country bumpkin / redneck (derog)
隐 yin3 土 tu3		legendary land of hermits / secret land / the back of beyond
雏 chu2 形 xing2 土 tu3		Cambosols (Chinese Soil Taxonomy)
面 mian4 如 ru2 土 tu3 色 se4		ashen-faced (idiom)

小神是本园土地来这儿伺候大圣 →

small - spirit - is - this - land - local god - come - here - serve - great sage

This small spirit is this grove's local god, to serve the Great Sage

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The English Wikipedia
The English Wiktionary
stroke-order.learningweb.moe.edu.tw
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Outer space and earth

Composition: 土 = 十 + 一

Wikimedia Commons:Stroke Order Project

土 appears as component in

土 has no simplified variant.

HSK level: 5

Pronunciation: Gorodish elements and their mnemonics (what's this?)

Words with 土

Example sentences for 土

See 土 on (opens in new window/tab)

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