Chinese Language --- Hui Yi

Compound ideographs combine two or more character elements into a new compound character. Two examples are hsiu and chien. When a "person," or jen, is tired, he naturally seeks out a "tree" mu where he can take a short break, so these two components combine to form the character xiu, meaning "to rest." A thing that is "large" ta at the bottom and gradually becomes "small" xiao at the top is pointed, so the characters for "small" and "large" combine to form the character Jian, "pointed," "sharp."