峙

peak / to store

峙 = 山 + 寺 : James II of England (zh) is at a stalemate (峙) with the monks living in a new Buddhist shrine (寺) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4): they've been fighting with forks (山) about who is in charge, but the peaks (峙) of their forks got tangled during their fight.

峙 character breakdown

峙
- 寺
  - 土
    - 一
    - 十
      - 一
      - 丨
  - 寸
    - 一
    - 丶
    - 亅
- 山
  - 丨
  - 凵

寺

sì = s + Ø4

Buddhist temple / mosque / government office (old)

寺 = 土 + 寸 : Socrates (s) built a Buddhist temple (寺) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). To protect it from being destroyed while floating around in zero gravity, he built a protective frame made out of mud (土) around it. After finishing it he inspects it and thinks "thumbs up" (寸), because he is proud of his work.

山

sha̅n = sh + an1

mountain / hill / anything that resembles a mountain / CL:座[zuo4] / bundled straw in which silkworms spin cocoons / gable

山 = 丨 + 凵 : Mnemonic symbol: 山 looks like the tip of a fork. Sherlock Holmes (sh) is climbing a mountain (山) in front of the anthill (an1). He uses a dinosaur bone (〡) as walking stick, and to have better grip he attached a fork (山) to its tip. Unfortunately he accidentally sticks the fork into a receptacle (凵) on the ground of the mountain and gets shocked.