Making and breaking

定 combines 宀 (roof) with 正 (correct, its lower part modified) — setting the place within a house (宀) rightly (正) and making it stable. From a household properly settled came "to determine, to settle, to stabilize." The 正 (correct) seen earlier sits below.

Korean hanja-sound "jeong": 決定 (gyeoljeong, decision), 安定 (anjeong, stability), 定義 (jeongui, definition), 豫定 (yejeong, schedule), 確定 (hwakjeong, confirmation), 規定 (gyujeong, regulation). It enters nearly every word about "fixing" something.

Mandarin: dìng, 4th tone. 决定 (juédìng, to decide), 一定 (yídìng, definitely), 定义 (dìngyì, definition), 稳定 (wěndìng, stable), 规定 (guīdìng, regulation), 肯定 (kěndìng, certainly). 一定 (yídìng, definitely) is a daily Mandarin essential.

Japanese: on-readings テイ (tei) and ジョウ (jō), kun さだ.める (sadameru) and さだ.まる (sadamaru). 決定 (kettei, decision), 予定 (yotei, schedule), 安定 (antei, stability), 定食 (teishoku, a set meal), 定規 (jōgi, a ruler — a ジョウ reading). The 定食 (teishoku) at a Japanese diner carries this character.

Memory aid: setting the inside of a house (宀) right (正) — settled, hence determined and stable.

決 is a phono-semantic character: 水 (氵, water) for meaning and 夬 (to break open) for sound. Originally breaching a blocked dike to open a water (氵) channel — from which grew "to burst, to resolve, to decide." Just as a channel once opened cannot be undone, 決 is deciding firmly.

The form splits: traditional and Japanese shinjitai are 決 (氵 + 夬), while Chinese simplified is 决, the left changed from 氵 (water) to 冫 (ice) — the left radical differs by mode.

Korean hanja-sound "gyeol": 決定 (gyeoljeong, decision), 決心 (gyeolsim, resolve), 決斷 (gyeoldan, decisiveness), 解決 (haegyeol, solution), 判決 (pan-gyeol, a verdict), 對決 (daegyeol, confrontation), 可決 (gagyeol, approval). With 定 (to determine) seen earlier it forms 決定 (decision).

Mandarin: jué, 2nd tone. 决定 (juédìng, to decide), 决心 (juéxīn, determination), 解决 (jiějué, to solve), 坚决 (jiānjué, resolute), 决赛 (juésài, the final). 解决 (jiějué, to solve) is a daily Mandarin essential.

Japanese: on-reading ケツ (ketsu), kun き.める (kimeru) and き.まる (kimaru). 決定 (kettei, decision), 決心 (kesshin, resolve), 解決 (kaiketsu, solution), 決勝 (kesshō, the final), 決める (kimeru, to decide). 決める (kimeru, to decide) is a daily Japanese essential.

Memory aid: opening a water (氵) channel (夬) — deciding firmly, traditional 決 / simplified 决.

組 is a phono-semantic character: 糸 (thread) for meaning and 且 (the original of 祖, ancestor) for sound. Weaving several strands of thread into a cord — from which grew "to braid, to assemble, to organize, an organized group." Its radical is 糸 (thread) seen earlier.

The simplified form is 组, with 糸 reduced to the thread radical 纟 — the form splits by mode.

Korean hanja-sound "jo": 組織 (jojik, organization), 組合 (johap, union / cooperative), 組成 (joseong, composition), 勞組 (nojo, labor union), 組長 (jojang, team leader). It names a group or class, as in 1組 (group 1).

Mandarin: zǔ, 3rd tone. 组织 (zǔzhī, organization), 小组 (xiǎozǔ, small group), 组合 (zǔhé, combination), 组装 (zǔzhuāng, to assemble), 剧组 (jùzǔ, a film crew). Japanese: on-reading ソ (so), kun く.む (kumu) and くみ (kumi). 組 (kumi, group / class), 組織 (soshiki, organization), 組合 (kumiai, union), 番組 (bangumi, a TV / radio program), 赤組 (akagumi, the red team). The Japanese 番組 (bangumi, broadcast program) carries this 組.

Memory aid: weaving several strands of thread (糸) together (且) — from a braided cord to an organized group.

計 combines 言 (speech) with 十 (ten) — counting from one to ten (十) aloud (言). From counting and reckoning came "to count, to measure, to plan, a plan."

The simplified form is 计, with 言 reduced to the speech radical 讠 — the form splits by mode.

Korean hanja-sound "gye": 計劃 (gyehoek, plan), 計算 (gyesan, calculation), 設計 (seolgye, design), 時計 (sigye, clock), 會計 (hoegye, accounting), 統計 (tonggye, statistics). It also means "scheme / stratagem" — the 計 of 三十六計 (the Thirty-Six Stratagems).

Mandarin: jì, 4th tone. 计划 (jìhuà, plan), 计算 (jìsuàn, to calculate), 设计 (shèjì, design), 会计 (kuàijì, accounting), 统计 (tǒngjì, statistics), 计算机 (jìsuànjī, computer). Japanese: on-reading ケイ (kei), kun はか.る (hakaru). 計画 (keikaku, plan), 計算 (keisan, calculation), 時計 (tokei, clock), 合計 (gōkei, total), 会計 (kaikei, accounting). The Japanese 時計 (tokei, clock) is a special reading (jukujikun).

Memory aid: counting to ten (十) aloud (言) — to reckon and to plan.

The traditional 賣 is built ingeniously: 出 (to go out, on top) sitting above 買 (to buy, below). What was bought goes out again — that is selling. The character literally encodes the reverse-direction transaction. This pairs 賣 with 買 as one of the cleanest semantic couples in Chinese writing. All three CJK regions simplified the upper half differently: Japanese shinjitai 売, Mainland simplified 卖, while Korea retains the traditional 賣.

Korean reading "mae." 販賣 (panmae, sales), 賣買 (maemae, trade — literally "sell-buy"), 豫賣 (yemae, advance sale / pre-sale of tickets), 專賣 (jeonmae, monopoly), 賣場 (maejang, store / sales floor). Notice that the Korean word for "transaction" is itself the two characters 賣 + 買 lined up — Korean lexicalizes the entire sell-buy cycle in one compound.

Mandarin mài, 4th tone (simplified 卖). High-frequency: 卖东西 (mài dōngxi, to sell things), 售卖 (shòumài, to sell), 卖家 (màijiā, seller). Pairs with 买 (mǎi, to buy) — the two characters differ only by tone in Mandarin (mài 4th vs mǎi 3rd), which trips up beginners constantly.

Japanese on-reading バイ (bai) powers commercial vocabulary: 販売 (hanbai, sales), 商売 (shōbai, business / commerce), 売買 (baibai, buying and selling). Kun-reading うる (uru, to sell) — 売る is one of the most common verbs in everyday Japanese: 車を売る (sell a car), 売り切れ (urikire, sold out). The shop sign 売 means "for sale."

Memory aid: what comes 出 (out) of 買 (purchase) is what gets sold — selling is the reverse current of buying.

直 combines 十 (ten) with 目 (eye) and an angled stroke beside it — a straight vertical line drawn above an eye (目), carrying the idea "to look straight with ten (十) eyes." From many eyes looking straight came "straight, upright, honest."

Korean hanja-sound "jik": 直線 (jikseon, straight line), 正直 (jeongjik, honesty), 直接 (jikjeop, direct), 垂直 (sujik, vertical), 直角 (jikgak, right angle), 率直 (soljik, frank). Paired with 正 (correct) seen earlier, it forms 正直 (honesty).

Mandarin: zhí, 2nd tone. 直接 (zhíjiē, direct), 一直 (yìzhí, all along / continuously), 直到 (zhídào, right up until), 直播 (zhíbō, live broadcast — "direct transmission"), 简直 (jiǎnzhí, simply / virtually). 一直 (yìzhí, continuously) is an everyday Mandarin essential.

Japanese: on-readings チョク (choku) and ジキ (jiki), kun なお.す (naosu), なお.る (naoru), ただ.ちに (tadachini). 直接 (chokusetsu, direct), 正直 (shōjiki, honest — a ジキ reading), 直る (naoru, to be fixed), 素直 (sunao, obedient / frank), 直線 (chokusen, straight line). 直す (naosu, to fix) is used daily.

Memory aid: a straight line (十) above many eyes (目) — looking straight, hence upright.

働 is one of the most important examples of a 国字 / kokuji — a "domestic character" invented in Japan, NOT inherited from Chinese. About 200 such characters were created over centuries by Japanese scribes to fill semantic gaps. 働 is the most useful and widely recognized: 亻 (person) + 動 (movement) = "to work / labor".

Key fact for English speakers: This character does NOT exist meaningfully in modern Chinese. Mainland Chinese learners of Japanese will not recognize 働 — they use entirely different characters for "work": 工作 (gōngzuò) or 上班 (shàngbān, "go to work"). Korean similarly uses 勞動 (nodong, labor) without the 働 character. So 働 is one of the cleanest examples of how Japanese script extends beyond shared CJK characters.

Japanese: on-reading ドウ (dō) — 労働 (rōdō, labor — politically and socially weighted term: 労働組合 rōdō-kumiai, labor union; 労働基準法 rōdō-kijun-hō, Labor Standards Act), 稼働 (kadō, in operation — used for machines/factories: 稼働中 = "in operation"), 実働 (jitsudō, actually working). Kun-reading はたら.く (hatara.ku, to work) is among the very highest-frequency Japanese verbs — 働く covers ALL kinds of work: physical labor, office work, brain work. 一生懸命に働く (isshōkenmei ni hataraku, to work with full commitment).

Derived words: 働き者 (hatarakimono, hardworking person), 働き方 (hatarakikata, way of working — central to current Japanese workforce reform discourse 働き方改革).

Memory aid: a person + movement = work. A character invented in Japan to capture the verb that mattered most to its bureaucratic class.

工 is a picture of a craftsman's tool — the top and bottom horizontals are the head and base, the vertical is the handle. The leading reading is a carpenter's set-square (a right-angle ruler). "The one who holds the measuring tool" gave us, from a single implement, the meanings craftsman, labor, and work.

Mandarin: gōng, level 1st tone. 工作 (gōngzuò, work / job), 工人 (gōngrén, worker), 工程 (gōngchéng, engineering project), 打工 (dǎgōng, to work a part-time job). The core vocabulary of modern Chinese society begins with 工.

Japanese: on-readings コウ (kō) and ク (ku); essentially no kun-reading. 工場 (kōjō, factory), 工夫 (kufū, ingenuity / contrivance), 大工 (daiku, carpenter). A nice cross-language trap: the compound 工夫 means "study" in Korean (gongbu) but "ingenuity" in Japanese (kufū).

Korean hanja-sound "gong": 工場 (gongjang, factory), 人工 (ingong, artificial), 施工 (sigong, construction work). This very site, 施工式 (sigongsik), carries this 工 in its name.

As a component it also lends its sound: 紅 (hóng, red), 江 (jiāng, river), 空 (kōng, empty), 功 (gōng, merit) all borrow the phonetic 工.

Memory aid: a handle joining a top and bottom stroke — a single tool in an artisan's grip.

In oracle bone script, 買 shows 网 (a net) on top of 貝 (a cowrie shell — ancient Chinese currency). The mental image is vivid: someone gathers coins in a net to scoop them up and exchange them for goods. "To buy" was depicted as the act of pooling money. The character is nearly identical across CJK — Japan and Korea use 買, while Mainland simplified it to 买 (replacing the 网 net with a simpler shape).

Korean reading "mae" — same sound as 賣 (sell), the two pair like inseparable twins. 購買 (gumae, purchase), 賣買 (maemae, transaction), 買收 (maesu, buyout / corruption / bribery), 買入 (maeip, purchase). The Korean compound 買收 carries an extra dark sense of "buying influence" — bribery — alongside the literal "buy out."

Mandarin mǎi, 3rd tone (simplified 买). One of the very first verbs any Chinese learner meets: 买东西 (mǎi dōngxi, to buy things — literally "buy east-west"), 购买 (gòumǎi, to purchase), 买单 (mǎidān, to pay the bill). Critical pronunciation note: 买 (mǎi, buy, 3rd tone) and 卖 (mài, sell, 4th tone) differ only by tone — beginners constantly say "I want to sell apples" when they mean "buy apples." The 3rd tone dips down (the buyer "lowers" his money); the 4th tone falls sharply (the seller "delivers" the goods).

Japanese on-reading バイ — 売買 (baibai, transaction), 購買 (kōbai, purchasing). Kun-reading かう (kau, to buy) — 買う is among the highest-frequency verbs in spoken Japanese, and 買い物 (kaimono, shopping) is a daily-life staple word.

Memory aid: 网 (net) gathering 貝 (coins) — pulling money together to buy.

圖 (traditional) combines 囗 (an enclosure / boundary) with 啚 (granaries, the parceling of a village) inside it — drawing the divisions of villages and fields within a boundary, that is, a "map, diagram." From that grew "to draw, to plan, to scheme." The shinjitai reduced the inside to 図, the simplified to 图.

So the form splits: traditional (ko/en/es) is 圖, shinjitai (ja) is 図, simplified (zh) is 图 — different by mode.

Korean hanja-sound "do": 地圖 (jido, map), 圖書館 (doseogwan, library), 圖形 (dohyeong, geometric figure), 構圖 (gudo, composition), 意圖 (uido, intention), 試圖 (sido, an attempt). Korea uses the traditional 圖.

Mandarin: tú, 2nd tone. 图书馆 (túshūguǎn, library), 地图 (dìtú, map), 图片 (túpiàn, picture), 图案 (tú'àn, design / pattern), 企图 (qǐtú, to attempt). Japanese: on-readings ズ (zu) and ト (to), kun はか.る (hakaru). 地図 (chizu, map), 図書館 (toshokan, library — a ト reading), 図形 (zukei, figure), 意図 (ito, intention), 合図 (aizu, a signal). 図 (zu) is a figure or diagram, while 図書 (tosho) is books — the reading splits.

Memory aid: the divisions of villages and fields drawn within a boundary (囗) — map and diagram.

丸 is read as a person bending their body into a round shape, or a round thing rolling down a slope. Either way "round, a round pellet" is its core sense. One account sees it as 仄 (to lean) reversed, showing a round thing rolling.

Korean hanja-sound "hwan": 丸藥 (hwanyak, a pill), 彈丸 (tanhwan, a bullet), 砲丸 (pohwan, a shot / cannonball), 淸心丸 (cheongsimhwan, a calming herbal pill). A round-shaped herbal-medicine pellet is called 丸 (hwan).

Mandarin: wán, 2nd tone. 丸子 (wánzi, a meatball / round dumpling), 药丸 (yàowán, a pill), 肉丸 (ròuwán, meatball), 鱼丸 (yúwán, fish ball). In Chinese and Hong Kong cuisine a round-shaped ball is called 丸子.

Japanese: on-reading ガン (gan), kun まる (maru) and まる.い (marui). 丸 (maru, a circle), 丸い (marui, round), 弾丸 (dangan, a bullet), 日の丸 (hinomaru, the Japanese flag), 丸太 (maruta, a log). There is a Japanese tradition of adding ~丸 (maru) to ship names and old castle names — 日本丸. Also, in Japanese the full stop (。) is called 句点 (kuten) or maru.

Memory aid: a body bent into a round shape — a round pellet, a circle.