Pinyin initial: "li"

The Pinyin initial "li" is used in the first half of Pinyin syllables. In MandarinBanana's mnemonic system, "li" 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 "li" can appear in.

Mnemonics for li

Li is for Li Qingzhao, writer and poet of the Song Dynasty.

Characters with li

power / force / strength / ability / strenuously

= + 丿 : Mnemonic symbol: a power button.

Li Qingzhao (li) just had a shower in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and wants to use the hair dryer, but there's no plug, just the bare end of the cable! She uses all her power to build an electricity plug, and for the two pins she uses a plough (㇆) and a banana (丿). Finally she hits a big power button (力) to turn the power on.
variant of 裡|里[li3]
li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhen4] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lin2] levels
lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[li3]

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a sunflower. The 田 part looks like the blossom and 土 looks like the stem and leaves. Li Qingzhao (li) wants to put up a field (田) inside (里) the space station's living room (Ø3). First she puts some earth (土) here and there, and then she plants lots of sunflowers (里).
texture / grain (of wood) / inner essence / intrinsic order / reason / logic / truth / science / natural science (esp. physics) / to manage / to pay attention to / to run (affairs) / to handle / to put in order / to tidy up

= + : Li Qingzhao and Martin Luther King have the mission to find out the intrinsic order and inner essence of sunflowers in the space station. They grow a few sunflowers and care for them very meticulously, talking to them and everything.
capacity / quantity / amount / to estimate / abbr. for 量詞|量词[liang4 ci2], classifier (in Chinese grammar) / measure word
to measure

= + : Li Qingzhao uses a measuring cup for a recipe in the anglepod's kitchen. Unfortunately she made a terrible mistake: instead of measuring cups of sunflowers, she throws sunflowers and cups together into a measuring cup.
other / another / separate / separately

= + : In engine's bathroom Li Qingzhao wants to distill a liquor out of mandarins, but she can't find a wall plug to plug the distiller's power cable in.

= + : Mnemonic symbol: to separate two liquids, one can use a distiller.
woods / forest / CL:片[pian4] / circle(s) (i.e. specific group of people) / a collection (of similar things)

= : Li Qingzhao (li) wants to plant a small forest (林) in the encampment's kitchen ((e)n2). She already put up two Christmas trees (木).
inferior

= + : Li Qingzhao (li) and the smiley (少) are battling to the death in a quiz about survival of the fittest (劣). Each of them has a power button (力) in front of them which they have to press if they want to answer a question. The inferior (劣) candidate will be expelled from the show.
minor government official or functionary (old)

= + : Li Qingzhao finds the space station's clerk making out with Bigfoot in the bathroom, and she's pretty jealous, so she throws mandarins at them to disturb them.
six / 6

= + : 666 is the number of the Beast, so I'll represent 六 in other character's mnemonics as the Beast. Li Qingzhao is balancing a beret on an eight ball in the outhouse's bathroom, but suddenly the Beast appears and blasts it all.
variant of 鏈|链[lian4], chain / variant of 煉|炼[lian4]

= + + : Li Qingzhao (li) is smelting (炼) the Pudong Oriental Pearl Tower (东) in the anthill's bathroom (an4) to make a pendant out of it. She put the tower on a big fire (火) and blows air into the fire using a flute (一).
to refine / to smelt

= + + : Li Qingzhao (li) is smelting (炼) the Pudong Oriental Pearl Tower (东) in the anthill's bathroom (an4) to make a pendant out of it. She put the tower on a big fire (火) and blows air into the fire using a flute (一).
to feel attached to / to long for / to love

= + : Li Qingzhao (li) waited for the also-run (亦) to arrive in the anthill's bathroom (an4) to give her her heart (心). Qingzhao is deeply in love (恋) with the also-run.
quick / alert / efficacious / effective / to come true / spirit / departed soul / coffin

= + : engine's entrance is on fire! Li Qingzhao is trapped and has to escape, but there's lots of flames and smoke everywhere. Luckily she has a pig's snout which she can use as gas mask. The pig's snout is very effective, and quickly Li Qingzhao jumps over the flames and escapes through engine's entrance.
to finish / to achieve / variant of 瞭|了[liao3] / to understand clearly

= + : Mnemonic symbol from "to finish" and the shape of the character: a prize cup.

Li Qingzhao (li) is responsible for manufacturing a prize cup (了). She only needs to add a poetic engraving. Unfortunately, she suffers from a writer's block. In the aorta's living room (ao3), someone left a cryptic message engraved on the walls using a sickle (乛), which is still lying on the floor. Being an accomplished poet Li Qingzhao is able to understand the message clearly (了), realizes its poetic potential and starts to engrave it on the prize cup using a crowbar (亅).
(of eyes) bright / clear-sighted / to understand clearly
unofficial variant of 瞭[liao4]
plum

= + : In the space station, Li Qingzhao shakes a Christmas tree which is decorated with eggs. The eggs fly off and as they break open, plums fly out of them.