Several parts combine into one character.

親 is a triple-component compound ideograph: 立 (to stand) + 木 (tree) + 見 (to see). The composite scene is touchingly concrete: a person standing beside a tree, watching attentively — the parent or close family member who stays near and keeps watch over loved ones. From this image of attentive proximity grew the meanings: parent → close kin → intimate / close. The character documents what it means to be a parent: not just to give birth but to remain nearby and watch over.

Mainland China simplified to 亲, removing the 见 (see) component — a simplification that prompted the famous joke that "in modern Chinese script, parents can no longer see their children." The complaint is half ironic and half poignant.

Korean reading "chin." 親舊 (chingu, friend — note Korean uses 親 for "friend," reflecting the conceptual link between intimacy and kinship), 父親 (buchin, father — formal), 母親 (mochin, mother — formal), 親切 (chinjeol, kindness — common compliment in Korean), 親近 (chingeun, intimately close), 親家 (chinga, one's parents' home — often used by married women: 친정 chinjeong is the related word for "wife's parental home"). 친구 is one of the most common nouns in spoken Korean.

Mandarin qīn, 1st tone (simplified 亲). 父亲 (fùqīn, father — formal address), 母亲 (mǔqīn, mother — formal), 亲爱 (qīn'ài, beloved — used in 亲爱的 qīn'ài de "dear" at the start of letters), 亲戚 (qīnqi, relatives), 亲自 (qīnzì, "personally / in person"). The formal 父亲 / 母亲 contrast with the everyday 爸爸 / 妈妈 (bàba / māma) — Mandarin distinguishes formal/written from spoken vocabulary for parents more strictly than Korean.

Japanese on-reading シン (shin) — 親切 (shinsetsu, kind — N5 vocabulary, one of the first adjectives Japanese learners memorize), 親近感 (shinkinkan, sense of familiarity), 両親 (ryōshin, both parents), 親戚 (shinseki, relatives), 親友 (shin'yū, close friend). Kun-readings: 親 (oya, parent — singular term used when discussing parents in general); 親しい (shitashii, intimate / close); 親子 (oyako, "parent-child" — appears constantly in family vocabulary). Japan's most beloved culinary use: 親子丼 (oyakodon, "parent-child rice bowl") — chicken (the parent) and egg (the child) served together over rice. The dish's name is a small grim joke that has become entirely affectionate in Japanese food culture.

Memory aid: standing (立) by a tree (木) and watching (見) — the attentive presence of a parent. Note how mainland 亲 lost the watching component.