Pinyin initial: "xi"

The Pinyin initial "xi" is used in the first half of Pinyin syllables. In MandarinBanana's mnemonic system, "xi" belongs to the group of Pinyin initials which are represented in mnemonics by women. You can visit the Pinyin index to see all Pinyin syllables from this mnemonic group, or to see all Pinyin syllables "xi" can appear in.

Mnemonics for xi

Xi is for Marie Curie.
Alternative mnemonic for xi: Xi Shi (西施), one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China.

Characters with xi

down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

= + : Mnemonic symbol: from the up/down logic, and a little bit the shape of the character, a ladder.

Xi Shi (xi) is on a retreat in the ashram. Using a voodoo staff (卜), she divined that next (下) week she'll have to play the flute (一) sixteen hours per day. Because she hates playing the flute, she climbs over the ashram's bathroom (a4) wall using a ladder (下) to escape.
to walk / to go / to travel / a visit / temporary / makeshift / current / in circulation / to do / to perform / capable / competent / effective / all right / OK! / will do / behavior / conduct / Taiwan pr. [xing4] for the behavior-conduct sense

= + : Mnemonic symbol from "to travel": seven-league boots.

Xi Shi (xi) is tired of walking with a black sneaker on her left foot (彳) and a full armor boot on her right foot (亍). Fortunately she finds seven-league boots (行) in the engine's kitchen ((e)ng2).
small / tiny / few / young

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a small daisy. 小 looks like the stem 亅 of the flower is pushing aside the earth 八 as it grows out of the seed in the ground.

Xi Shi (xi) is decorating her hair with lots of small (小) daisies (mnemonic symbol for 小) in the aorta's living room (ao3). She wants to have lots of daisies in the future as well, so she plants new daisies. She found that the perfect substrate for planting daisies is made by crushing eight-balls (八) with a crow bar (亅).
dusk / evening / Taiwan pr. [xi4]

Mnemonic symbol: this character looks a bit like a bat, and bats come out of their caves at dusk. I could see the upper left 丿 as part of the bat's right wing, ㇇ as the body/head and 丶 as the eye of the bat.

Xi Shi (xi) goes out for a space walk in front of the space station (Ø1) in the evening (夕), where she observes a space bat.
star / heavenly body / satellite / small amount

= + : The sun and a satellite had a love affair and now have a baby: Marie Curie is quietly sleeping in her little cradle in front of the engine.
the West / abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2] / Spanish

西 = + : The wild west is largely recognized by the symbol of the cowboy hat.

西 = + : Marie Curie has gone crazy from the loneliness in space. In front of the space station, she sits inside of a large wooden box, wearing a cowboy hat and playing a 胡兀尔 fiddle, thinking that she's participating in a square dance in the wild west.
old variant of 下[xia4]

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a t-bone steak.
abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1] or Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1] / surname Xin
new / newly / meso- (chemistry)

= + : Marie Curie and her bride are inspecting their wedding presents in front of the encampment. There's a brand new pair of barbells packed in plastic foil.
filial piety or obedience / mourning apparel

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a mourning veil. Marie Curie (xi) was breeding an egg (子) in the aorta's bathroom (ao4), and she even put a crown (⺹) on it (the crown is on top of the egg: 孝), so much she loved her little prince. Unfortunately the egg died, and thus Marie Curie put on her mourning veil (孝).
to connect / to relate to / to tie up / to bind / to be (literary)

= 丿 + : Mnemonic symbol: As this is the second character in 关系 (guanxi), I'll use shaking hands as the symbol for 系.

= 丿 + : In the space station's bathroom, Marie Curie found a new binding mechanism in chemistry. To demonstrate her findings, she binds two bananas together with a silk scarf. She celebrates her findings by shaking her own hand over her head.
system / department / faculty

= 丿 + : Mnemonic symbol: As this is the second character in 关系 (guanxi), I'll use shaking hands as the symbol for 系.

= 丿 + : In the space station's bathroom, Marie Curie found a new binding mechanism in chemistry. To demonstrate her findings, she binds two bananas together with a silk scarf. She celebrates her findings by shaking her own hand over her head.
to connect / to arrest / to worry

= 丿 + : In the space station's bathroom, Marie Curie found a new binding mechanism in chemistry. To demonstrate her findings, she binds two bananas together with a silk scarf. She celebrates her findings by shaking her own hand over her head.

= 丿 + : Mnemonic symbol: As this is the second character in 关系 (guanxi), I'll use shaking hands as the symbol for 系.
to appear / also written 現|现[xian4]
to appear / present / now / existing / current

= + : Martin Luther King has a project in which he wants to document the current state of the nation. He has a surveillance camera put up in the anthill's bathroom and interviews Marie Curie about her views about the present time.
classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several

= + : Marie Curie is too tired from climbing all the steps of the elevator, so in front of it, preparing for the descent, she couples a couple of capacitors to a couple of boots to automate them.
early / prior / former / in advance / first

= + : Mnemonic symbol: the First Lady of the United States, FLOTUS.

In front of the anthill, Sun Wukong, the FLOTUS and Marie Curie dance around the golden calf. When it comes to be in favour of their gods, everyone of them wants to be first.
heart / mind / intention / center / core / CL:顆|颗[ke1],個|个[ge4]

= + : Marie Curie (xi) uses a shovel (乚) to dig a hole in front of the encampment ((e)n1). She wants to bury her heart (心). To the side are three petal leaves (丶), with which she wants to cover it afterwards.
each other / one another / mutually / fret on the neck of a pipa 琵琶[pi2 pa5] (a fret on the soundboard is called a 品[pin3])
surname Xiang