质

character / nature / quality / plain / to pawn / pledge / hostage / to question / Taiwan pr. [zhi2]

质 = ⺁ + 十 + 贝 : James II of England (zh) captured a crab (贝) and keeps it as a hostage (质) In the space station's bathroom (Ø4). James II of England wants to find out more about the nature (质) of the banana tree (⺁), so all the crab gets to eat is the banana trees. Secretly the crab set up a small cross (十) to which it prays everyday for its release.

质 character breakdown

质
- 十
  - 一
  - 丨
- 贝
  - 人
    - 丿
    - ㇏
  - 冂
    - 丨
    - ㇆
      - 一
      - 亅
  - ⺆
    - 丿
    - ㇆
      - 一
      - 亅
- ⺁
  - 丿

十

shí = sh + Ø2

ten / 10

十 = 一 + 丨 : Mnemonic symbol: a holy cross. Sherlock Holmes (sh-) is investigating a very strange thing he found in the kitchen 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).

贝

貝

bèi = b + ei4

cowrie / shellfish / currency (archaic)

贝 = ⺆ + 人 : 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.

⺁

Character component without intrinsic meaning

⺁ = 丿 : Mnemonic symbol: two and more bananas (丿) are part of a larger banana tree (⺁).