然
=
灬
+
肰
:
Robinson Crusoe is grilling some dog meat on his BBQ in the anthill's kitchen, but it's hard to do it correctly because of all the animal rights activists. They think it's not right to grill dog meat.
(conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but / then / standard / norm / principle / to imitate / to follow / classifier for written items
则
=
刂
+
贝
:
Mnemonic symbol: 武则天 (Wu Zetian), the only female emperor of China in more than four millennia. It makes sense because for sure she wrote many official statements, for which 则 is the classifier.
则
=
刂
+
贝
:
Just inside the elevator's kitchen, Zorro found a crab. He already has a kitchen knife in his hand and wants to kill and eat the crab, but Wu Zetian quickly writes an official rule that forbids the eating of crabs, much to Zorro's disappointment.
(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then / (bound form) standard; norm / (bound form) principle / (literary) to imitate; to follow / classifier for written items