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** https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/kanji-radicals-mnemonic-method/
** https://www.wanikani.com/
=== Lists of the most common characters and words
This is a good approach to tick off high frequency stuff you don't know you don't know:
* HSK word lists
** https://web.archive.org/web/20180211123634/http://www.hskhsk.com/word-lists.html go in the "(frequency order)" links
* Official character lists learned by native Chinese students per age group. TODO find exact lists.
** https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/6000/how-many-characters-do-chinese-pupils-know-at-different-ages
Single author open source Pleco + "Remembering Simplified Hanzi" in a single .adoc file? Let's go.
We'd use https://rtega.be/chmn/ as basis if it weren't for the NO in CC-BY-NO-SA? But that NO is evil, what the heck does it even mean to gain money from something? Too restrictive.
Format will be very constant, database like. Would therefore be cool to parse it from the Asciidoctor into a proper database as a way to verify and allow third party usage.
Base mnemonic components can come more or less directly from the 214 Kangxi radicals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_radical
One key principle is that characters and words often don't have a well translatable meaning: the minimal always translatable unit is a sentence: <<sentences>>!
You can't fully learn a language by learning words and characters alone, you must learn sentences.
....
[[<character>]]
=== <character> (<pinyin>, <mnemonic name>)
* <chinese-word-containing>
* <chinese-word-containing>
* <character-containing>
* <character-containing>
Translations:
* <<english-word>>
** <<chinese-sentence-containing>>
Sentences:
* <<chinese-sentence-containing>>
Notes:
* <<random-text>>
* <<random-text>>
Notes:
* `Translations` is only used when it is a single character word, if it goes inside a word, only the word will contain the sentence
Mnemonic: Can't find the freaking Unicode. It looks like a **pistol**.
Characters:
* 每 TODO each
[[top-part-of-存]]
==== Top part of 存 (, market stall)
Mnemonic: looks like one.
Characters:
* <<存>>
Mnemonic: the dot indicates something that stays on top of the head of a king (<<王>>)
Notes: there is no "proper" Chinese name for this, it is just known as "the top part of <<青>>" (青字頭) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/龶
Characters:
* <<青>>
Characters:
* <<爬>>
Words:
* <<巴西>>
[[八]]
==== 八 (ba1, eight)
Short forms: 丷
Characters:
* <<单>>
[[白]]
==== 白 (bai2, white)
Mnemonic: the **sun** (<<日>>) is so bright on that **one** (<<一>>) day, that it was almost **white**
Characters:
* <<的>>
[[勹]]
==== 勹 (bao1, plastic wrap)
Mnemonic: Kangxi 20 is "wrap". So we choose plastic wrap as a specific type of wrapping that will give good mnemonics.
Characters:
* <<勺>>
[[本]]
==== 本 (ben3, potato)
Mnemonic: **one** (<<一>>) thing is always beloow a **tree** (<<本>>): **potato** roots
Characters:
* <<体>>
[[匕]]
==== 匕 (bi3, spoon)
Mnemonic: an ancient spoon, looks like this: https://read01.com/aAEn50x.html#.XnfZDN_niV4 "古人吃饭最早不用筷子，用的是“匕”，那“匕”是什么？
Mnemonic: imagine a soldier wearing **green** (<<龶>>) camouflage **clothes** (<<衣>>), and checking his **watch** to know if it is time to attack
Mnemonic: the kangxi description is "divination". Since this is completely unrelated to common contexts of modern people, we select a wand use a magic-related object that can be easily put into fun stories: a magic wand.
[[不]]
==== 不 (bu4, not)
Mnemonic: unclear, possibly **magic wand** <<卜>>
Words:
* <<不幸>>
Mnemonic: every **dawn** <<旦>>, men have to **check** if their penises are hard as **wood** <<木>>, and if so they have to stay in bed for a while longer because it is too embarrassing to walk out like that, see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_wood
[[车]]
==== 车 (che1, car)
Characters:
* <<轮>>
[[臣]]
==== 臣 (chen2, minister)
Characters:
* <<临>>
[[彳]]
==== 彳 (chi4, step)
Mnemonic: Kangxi 60.
Characters:
* <<很>>
[[辵]]
==== 辵 (chuo4, walk)
Short forms: ⻌,⻍,⻎
Characters:
* <<运>>
[[存]]
==== 存 (cun2, survive)
Mnemonic: the Jewish **child** (<<子>>) **survived** from the Nazis by hidding under a **market stall** (<<top-part-of-存>>)
Words:
* <<幸存>>
[[寸]]
==== 寸 (cun4, inch)
Characters:
* <<讨>>
[[大]]
==== 大 (da4, big)
Characters:
* <<犬>>
Mnemonic: that **evening** (<<夕>>), **one** (<<一>>) **supervillain** attacked us!
[[单]]
==== 单 (dan1, bill)
Mnemonic: that lunch **bill** cost as much as buying **eighty** (<<十>> <<八>>) rice **fields** (<<田>>)!
Words:
* TODO 买单
[[旦]]
==== 旦 (dan4, dawn)
Mnemonic: **dawn** is when the **sun** (<<日>>) is raising over the horizon (<<一>>)
Characters:
* <<但>>
Words:
* <<元旦>>
[[但]]
==== 但 (dan4, but)
Mnemonic: I saw a **person** (<<人>>) walking at **dawn** (<<旦>>). It was beautiful, **but** why wouldn't they be sleeping instead?
Short forms: 刂,⺈
Characters:
* <<列>>
* <<尔>>
[[的]]
==== 的 (de, my)
Mnemonic: **my** penis looks like a **white** (<<白>>) **wrap sandwitch** (<<勺>>)
[[等]]
==== 等 (deng3, etcetera)
Mnemonic: TODO
Words: <<等等>>
Mnemonic: his **superpower** (<<力>>) is to **move** fart **clouds** (<<云>>) with his mind
[[对]]
==== 对 (dui4, correct)
Mnemonic: to progress slowly, adding **inch** (<<寸>>) by inch, **again** (<<又>>) and again, is the **correct** way to progress
Characters:
* <<树>>
[[多]]
==== 多 (duo1, many)
Mnemonic: one **wrap sandwitch** (<<勺>>) is fine for lunch, but two on too **many**
[[儿]]
==== 儿 (er2, son)
Characters:
* <<元>>
[[尔]]
==== 尔 (er3, you)
Mnemonic: I'll stab **you** with a **small** (<<小>>) knife (<<刀>>)
Characters:
* <<你>>
[[二]]
==== 二 (er4, two)
Characters:
* 元
Mnemonic: he didn't have two **lungs**, but rather one **moon** (<<月>>) and one **lung** (<<巿>>)
Words:
* <<肺炎>>
[[巿]]
==== 巿 (fu2, lung)
Mnemonic: due to an infection, doctors had to dry up **one** (<<一>>) of his **lung** with a **towel** (<<巾>>)
Characters:
* <<肺>>
[[干]]
==== 干 (gan1, dry)
Characters:
* <<幸>>
Sentences:
* <<肺炎疫情下的武汉幸存者我是不幸之中幸运的人>>
[[该]]
==== 该 (gai1, dry)
Mnemonic: TODO **speak** (<<言>>)
Translations:
* that, the afore mentioned
** <<目前该网站也和国内外很多大学的图书馆有合作例如武汉大学南京大学等等>>
*** Here, 该网站 (that website) is referring to a specific website mentioned in previous sentences of the Zhihu answer.
[[根]]
==== 根 (gen1, roots)
Mnemonic: **roots** one **root** (<<艮>>) plus one root and lots of **wood** (<<木>>)
Notes: this is a Kangxi radical, but its English name "stopping" is just too close to the more important "stop" <<止>> and would cause confusion. So we just use the common phonetic compound **roots** (<<根>>) as the mnemonic. It was tempting to leave "root" for <<本>>, which looks perfectly like a root, but we did character first, and "potato" makes for even better mnemonics.
[[冠]]
==== 冠 (guan1, corona)
Mnemonic: when Queen Elizabeth was crowned, the **first** (<<元>>) thing they put a one **inch** (<<寸>>) **hajib** <<冖>> on her head, and then the **corona** of a Christian saint saint appeared on her head
Notes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona
Mnemonic: imagine **one** <<一>> **grain** of rice coming out of **wood** (<<木>>)
Characters:
* <<私>>
* <<和>>
[[和]]
==== 和 (he2, harmonious)
Mnemonic: nothing is more **harmonious** than putting some **grains** <<禾>> in your **mouth** <<口>>
Characters:
* <<私>>
* <<和>>
Mnemonic: **stepping** (<<彳>>) on a tree **root** (<<艮>>) is a **very** bad idea, it might be a tree spirit that gets angry and eats you!
[[火]]
==== 火 (huo3, fire)
Short forms: 灬
Characters:
* <<炎>>
[[巾]]
==== 巾 (jin1, towel)
Mnemonic: person carrying bath towel over shoulders.
Characters:
* <<巿>>
[[几]]
==== 几 (ji3, side table)
Characters:
* <<殳>>
[[口]]
==== 口 (kou3, mouth)
Chars:
* <<台>>
* <<和>>
[[里]]
==== 里 (li3, mile)
Mnemonic: his **field** (<<田>>) streched over one **mile** (<<里>>), but it consisted of barren **soil** (<<土>>) without any plants
Characters:
* <<重>>
* <<理>>
[[理]]
==== 理 (li3, science)
Mnemonic: the **king** (<<王>>) Louis XIV was a big patron of the mectric system, which intends to improve **science** by removing useless units like the **mile** (<<里>>)
Words:
* <<物理>>
* <<理论>>
[[力]]
==== 力 (li4, superpower)
Characters:
* <<动>>
Mnemonic: there must exist a **list** of **supervillains** (<<歹>>) with **knives** (<<刀>>) on the web? A knife-yielding supervillain **list**! https://techland.time.com/2010/09/03/top-ten-heroes-and-villians-with-big-knives/
[[临]]
==== 临 (lin2, temporary)
Mnemonic: the simplified character was completely mutilated into a bunch of senseless traces unmemorizable traces. The traditional 臨 can be broken into: the **Prime minister** (<<臣>>) temporarily decided to increase production of an important **product** (<<品>>): **pistols** (<<top-part-of-每>>), until the zombie apocalypse would be over.
Words:
* <<临时>>
[[仑]]
==== 仑 (lun2, logic)
Mnemonic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory[spoon theory] is very logical and explains how using **spoons** (<<匕>>) is a good metaphor for a **person**'s (<<人>>) energy consumption
Characters:
* <<论>>
Mnemonic: "**rationale**" the fancy way that engineers **say** (<<言>>) "**logic**" (<<仑>>)
Mnemonic: it is pretty **logical** (<<仑>>) that a **car** (<<车>>) needs **wheels**
[[没]]
==== 没 (mei2, not have)
Mnemonic: if you **do not have** any **water** (<<水>>) for your **coffee** (<<殳>>), it won't be very good
[[冖]]
==== 冖 (mi4, hajib [Muslim female head scarf])
Notes: the Wikipedia Kangxi is "cloth cover". Ciro guesses this was originally something to do with food covering. But let's just go with hajib which will allow for easy politically incorrect mnemonics. "Crown" from <<冠>> would also be another good one, but we had already used crown for <<龶>>.
Characters:
* <<冠>>
[[宀]]
==== 宀 (mian2, roof)
Characters:
* <<审>>
Characters:
* <<根>>
Words:
* <<木头>>
[[疒]]
==== 疒 (ne4, sick)
Mnemonic: Kangxi 104.
Characters:
* <<疫>>
[[你]]
==== 你 (ni3, thou)
Mnemonic: **person** (<<人>>) **you** (<<尔>>)
[[牛]]
==== 牛 (niu2, cow)
Short forms: 牜,⺧
Characters:
* <<理>>
Mnemonic: you need **claws** (<<爪>>) to **climb** (爬) **Brazil**'s (<<巴>>) tallest mountain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_da_Neblina[Pico da Neblina]
[[品]]
==== 品 (pin3, product)
Mnemonic: you need a lot of food **products** to feed the three **mouths** (<<口>>) of three children!
Words:
* 食品 TODO
Characters:
* <<临>>
[[攴]]
==== 攴 (pu1, to tap)
Short forms: 攵
Mnemonic: to transform a frog into a princess, you have to **tap** your **magic wand** (<<卜>>) **again and again** (<<又>>) on it
Characters:
* <<政>>
[[千]]
==== 千 (qian2, thousand)
Mnemonic: a super powerful <<十>> with an extra trace
[[丬]]
==== 丬 (qiang2, split wood)
Characters: <<状>>
Mnemonic: the **crown** (<<龶>>) of the king was **blue** and **moon-shaped** (<<月>>)
Notes: it is more like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan[green-blue/Cyan], see also https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/青色 but let's call it blue because it will be used in many constructs.
Mnemonic: imagine a Caribbean sea **water** (<<水>>) was is **blue** (<<青>>) and **clear**
Notes: clear in the sense of "not dirty" and "a clear explanation". "Clear colors" use TODO 浅 as in 浅蓝.
[[情]]
==== 情 (qing2, lust)
Mnemonic: in his **heart** (<<心>>), the greatest **lust** was that of **blue** (<<青>>) underwear
Words:
* <<疫情>>
Mnemonic: imagine one **big** (<<大>>) **dog** wagging its tail, the extra dot is the tail
[[日]]
==== 日 (ri4, sun)
Characters:
* <<旦>>
[[勺]]
==== 勺 (shao2, wrap sandwitch)
Mnemonic: it is something that you would put inside **plastic wrap** (<<勹>>)
Notes: this is one of the main words for spoon, but that mnemonic is already taken by the Kangxi <<匕>>, so we had to go for something else.
[[申]]
==== 申 (shen1, God)
Mnemonic: TODO
Characters:
* <<神>>
[[神]]
Mnemonic: **God** <<申>> **spirit** (<<示>>)
[[审]]
==== 审 (shen3, inspect)
Mnemonic: if you are going to **inspect** what's making those noises on the **roof** (<<宀>>), you will certainly find that it was **God** (<<申>>)
[[十]]
==== 十 (shi2, ten)
Characters:
* <<单>>
[[时]]
==== 时 (shi2, time)
Mnemonic: if the **sun** (<<日>>) moves an **inch** (<<寸>>) in the sky, then that means that 1 minute of **time** has passed
Words:
* <<临时>>
[[示]]
==== 示 (shi4, spirit)
Short forms: 礻
Mnemonic: imagine **two** <<二>> **small** <<小>> child **spirits** playing with one another, maybe they died during a nuclear explosion and never noticed what happened
[[水]]
==== 水 (shui3, water)
Short forms: 氵,氺
Chars:
* <<治>>
[[厶]]
==== 厶 (si1, private)
Chars:
* <<台>>
* <<私>>
[[私]]
==== 私 (si1, privacy)
Mnemonic: **privacy** is all about storing your precious **grain** (<<禾>>) in a **private** (<<厶>>) location
Mnemonic: his **coffee** keeps falling from the **side table** (<<几>>) on the floor **again** (<<又>>) and again
* <<疫>>
Note: this shows what a 殳 weapon actually was: http://wenzhengwenhua.com/article-2023-1.html
Mnemonic: it is **correct** (<<对>>) to say that **trees** (树) are made out of of **wood** (<<木>>)
Mnemonic: in their **discussions** (<<讨论>>), they always **talked** (<<言>>) about how his penis was only one **inch** <<寸>> long
[[台]]
==== 台 (tai2, platform)
Mnemonic: he was doing something **private** (<<厶>>) to her with his **mouth** (<<口>>) on the train **platform**
Characters:
* <<治>>
Words:
* <<台湾>>
[[田]]
==== 田 (tian1, field)
Characters:
* <<单>>
[[体]]
==== 体 (ti3, body)
Mnemonic: the Irish **people** <<人>> eat so much **potato** (<<本>>) that 90% of their **bodies** are made out of potato molecules
Words:
* <<体重>>
[[土]]
==== 土 (tu3, soil)
Notes: the normal Kangxi translation is "earth", but we are afraid that this could be ambiguous with the "Planet Earth", so choosing soil instead
Characters:
* <<幸>>
[[王]]
==== 王 (wang2, king)
Characters:
* <<龶>>
[[勿]]
==== 勿 (wu4, atom)
Mnemonic: atoms are part of **matter** <<物>>
[[物]]
==== 物 (wu4, matter [Physics])
Mnemonic: **cows** (<<牛>>) are made of **atoms** (<<勿>>), both of which are made of **matter**
Words:
* <<物理>>
[[心]]
==== 心 (xin1, heart)
Short forms: 忄,⺗
Mnemonic: Kangxi 42.
Characters:
* <<情>>
[[幸]]
==== 幸 (xing4, luck)
Mnemonic: you will have much better **luck** cycling when the **soil** (<<土>>) is **dry** (<<干>>)
Words:
* <<不幸>>
[[言]]
==== 言 (yan2, speak, say)
Short forms: 讠
Mnemonic: imagine **two** (<<二>>) flying **mouths** (<<口>>) trying to speak, but they can't because a plastic **lid** (<<亠>>) has been placed on them
[[炎]]
==== 炎 (yan2, inflammation)
Mnemonic: getting burnt by two **fires** (<<火>>) tends to cause skin inflammation
Words:
* <<肺炎>>
[[疫]]
==== 疫 (yi4, epidemic)
Mnemonic: the world's greatest **epidemic** which is making people **sick** (<<疫>>) is **coffee** (<<殳>>) drinking
Words:
* <<疫情>>
[[又]]
==== 又 (you4, again)
Characters:
* <<对>>
[[元]]
==== 元 (yuan2, first)
Mnemonic: my **first** **son** (<<儿>>) had **two** (<<二>>) legs, but the second one had three!
[[月]]
==== 月 (yue4, moon)
Characters:
* <<青>>