坐山观虎斗

lit. sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight (idiom) / fig. watch in safety whilst others fight then reap the rewards when both sides are exhausted

Characters and words in 坐山观虎斗

坐

zuò = zu + o4

to sit / to take a seat / to take (a bus, airplane etc) / to bear fruit / variant of 座[zuo4]

坐 = 从 + 土 : Zapatista Zebra (zu) sits next to a rubber chicken (从) on a clay (土) bench (mnemonic symbol for 坐) in the observatory's bathroom.

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.

观

觀

guàn = gu + an4

surname Guan

观

觀

gua̅n = gu + an1

to look at / to watch / to observe / to behold / to advise / concept / point of view / outlook

观 = 又 + 见 : In front of the anthill several surveillance cameras are closely observing Gitta Giraffe's boxing training progress. She also closely watches the cameras and practices her punches until she is ready to box every one of them into oblivion.

观

觀

guàn = gu + an4

Taoist monastery / palace gate watchtower / platform

虎

hǔ = hu + Ø3

tiger / CL:隻|只[zhi1]

虎 = 几 + 虍 : Helga Horse (hu) is trying once more to get some nice stripes (虍). This time she is lying on the tiger's (虎) small table (几) to have him tattoo the stripes on her body in the space station (Ø3).

斗

dǒu = d + ou3

abbr. for the Big Dipper constellation 北斗星[Bei3 dou3 xing1]

斗

dǒu = d + ou3

dry measure for grain equal to ten 升[sheng1] or one-tenth of a 石[dan4] / decaliter / peck / cup or dipper shaped object / old variant of 陡[dou3]

斗

鬥

dòu = d + ou4

to fight / to struggle / to condemn / to censure / to contend / to put together / coming together

斗 = ⺀ + 十 : Mnemonic symbol: a 斗牛士 (dou4 niu2 shi4) is a matador, who will represent 斗 when used as component.

The matador (斗) and Don Quixote (d) are fighting (斗) in the outhouse's bathroom (ou4) about who may use the bathroom next. The matador yields a holy cross (十) as a weapon, while Don Quixote (d) wisely chose a blossom (⺀) to cushion the crosses' blows.