to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
在
=
一
+
亻
+
土
:
Zorro (z) and Rosa Luxemburg (亻) exist (在) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). Rosa is in the middle of balancing a flute (一) on her head and on a pile of clay (土). Zorro uses his rapier to inscribe "Z" into the flute, so as to mark that the pronunciation of "在" begins with "z".
back / behind / rear / afterwards / after / later / post-
后
=
⺁
+
𠮛
:
Mnemonic symbol: Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. Zenobia (后) and Hamlet (h) want to bake banana bread in the outhouse's bathroom (ou4), but they don't know how. Behind (后) a banana tree (⺁) they study a scroll (𠮛) on which the recipe is written.
the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3]); to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger