(conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but / then / standard / norm / principle / to imitate / to follow / classifier for written items

= + : Mnemonic symbol: 武则天 (Wu Zetian), the only female emperor of China in more than four millennia. It makes sense because for sure she wrote many official statements, for which 则 is the classifier.

= + : Just inside the elevator's kitchen, Zorro found a crab. He already has a kitchen knife in his hand and wants to kill and eat the crab, but Wu Zetian quickly writes an official rule that forbids the eating of crabs, much to Zorro's disappointment.
(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then / (bound form) standard; norm / (bound form) principle / (literary) to imitate; to follow / classifier for written items

則 character breakdown

Kangxi radical 18 (刀[dao1]) as a vertical side element / see also 立刀旁[li4 dao1 pang2] / see also 側刀旁|侧刀旁[ce4 dao1 pang2]

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a kitchen knife. Don Quixote (d) is showing off his special knifes in front of the aorta (ao1). One is made from a dinosaur bone (丨), and the other is made from a crowbar (亅).
surname Bei
cowrie / shellfish / currency (archaic)

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a crab. In the Eiffel Tower's bathroom (ei4), the Neanderthal man (人) and Beelzebub (b) are fighting a crab with staplers (⺆), but because the Neanderthal man (人) can't handle the stapler he accidentally staples himself in the forehead.

Characters with 則 as component

to survey / to measure / to conjecture

= + : Wu Zetian (则) and the King of Chu (c) think that they are a good match and want to marry, but before they do, they interview (测) each other in the elevator's bathroom (e4). They spin a water bottle (氵) and whoever it is pointing at has to fill out the other one's survey (测).
the side / to incline towards / to lean / inclined / lateral / side

= + : Wu Zetian (则) and the King of Chu (c) got married in the elevator's bathroom (e4) and after the ceremony they are so drunk that they have to lean against (侧) Rosa Luxemburg (亻) to not fall down.
lean on one side
restroom / toilet / lavatory

= + : Wu Zetian (则) wants to use the toilet (厕) in the elevator's bathroom (e4), but the King of Chu (c) says she cannot because his chocolate factory (厂) has not finished producing chocolate yet.
used in 茅廁|茅厕[mao2 si5]
variant of 廁|厕[ce4]

= + : Wu Zetian (则) wants to use the toilet (厕) in the elevator's bathroom (e4), but the King of Chu (c) says she cannot because his chocolate factory (厂) has not finished producing chocolate yet.
cuttlefish
lever-style guillotine / to chop using this type of guillotine
lofty
sorrowful
plant genus Aconitum, aka monkshood or wolf's bane (used as poison and medicine) / Taiwan pr. [ze2]

Words with 則

to set an example (idiom); to serve as a model
on the one hand
If three walk together, one of them can teach me sth (Confucius)
the Three Principles (in many contexts)
wastage makes one destitute (idiom)
where there is injustice, there will be an outcry / man will cry out against injustice
traffic rules / rules of the road
frugality prevents destitution (idiom)
listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; heed only one side and you will remain ignorant (idiom)
moreover / besides
specific provisions (based on general regulations)
(old sentence-final expression used for emphasis)
Zabulon or Zebulun, biblical land between Jordan and Galilee (Matthew 4:15)
One-China principle, the official doctrine that Taiwan is a province of China
happy on the one hand, but worried on the other (idiom)

Sentences with 則

則 currently does not appear in any sentence.