Pictograph showing a sprout (屮) breaking through soil (土) — a seedling rising. The character carries the concept of life through the simplest possible image: something growing where there was nothing. Identical across 繁體 / 新字体 / 简体.

生 is one of the most semantically packed characters in the entire script. It has at least four major meanings — birth, life, raw, and student — and Japanese in particular spreads it across a notorious number of readings.

Mandarin: shēng, level 1st tone. 生命 (shēngmìng, life), 生活 (shēnghuó, daily life), 生日 (shēngrì, birthday), 学生 (xuésheng, student), 医生 (yīshēng, doctor), 先生 (xiānsheng, Mr.), 出生 (chūshēng, to be born), 生气 (shēngqì, to get angry — "raise vital energy"), 花生 (huāshēng, peanut — "flower-born").

Japanese: this is one of the all-time worst characters for readings. TWO on-readings + many kun-readings + irregular compounds: — セイ (sei): 学生 (gakusei, student), 先生 (sensei, teacher), 生活 (seikatsu, lifestyle), 一生 (isshō — wait, that's ショウ). — ショウ (shō): 一生 (isshō, one's whole life), 誕生 (tanjō, birth). — い.きる (i.kiru): to live. 生きる (ikiru) — Kurosawa's 1952 film title. — う.まれる (u.mareru): to be born. 生まれ (umare, birthplace), 生まれる (umareru). — なま (nama): raw / fresh. 生ビール (nama-bīru, draft beer), 生肉 (namaniku, raw meat). — は.える (ha.eru): to grow (of plants/hair). 生える. Plus irregulars: 芝生 (shibafu, lawn), 生憎 (ainiku, unfortunately).

No other character in the jōyō list has so many active readings. Native Japanese speakers absorb each compound separately.

Memory aid: a sprout pushing through earth — the universal start of life.