三
=
一
+
二
:
Mnemonic symbol: Cartesian coordinate system with three (三) axes. Socrates (s-) is performing in front of the anthill (-an1). He created an electrical flute by attaching a large capacitor (二) to the flute (一), so that he can get the attention of all the people. Moreover, he's balancing on a Cartesian coordinate system (三). Unfortunately, only three (三) people stop to watch the performance.
(old) first place in civil service examinations at three levels: provincial 解元[jie4 yuan2], metropolitan 會元|会元[hui4 yuan2] and palace 狀元|状元[zhuang4 yuan2]
currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan) / first / original / primary / fundamental / constituent / part / era (of a reign) / meta- (prefix) / (math.) argument / variable / (Tw) (geology) eon
元
=
二
+
儿
:
Sun Wu Kong offers Yu the Great a coin just inside the anthill's kitchen. As Yu the Great takes it, she's literally shocked: Sun Wu Kong hooked up a capacitor to it to play a bad joke on her, and he's laughing his ass off.
to move / to transport / to use / to apply / fortune / luck / fate
运
=
云
+
辶
:
Yu the Great (yu) is practicing step dancing in the encampment's bathroom ((e)n4). She is wearing gladiator sandals (辶) and is moving (运) so fast that she's evaporating the floor. There are even clouds (云) of smoke coming from her gladiator sandals and the evaporated floor.
to regard as / to figure / to calculate / to compute
算
=
⺮
+
目
+
廾
:
In anthill's bathroom it's Susan Saint Bernard versus the Eye of Providence. The Eye of Providence figures that it has no chances against Susan Saint Bernard who yields two double-axes, while he has only a bamboo stick. He calculates that his chance of survival is rather low.