ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
化
to transform; -ize
huà
4 strokes · 亻 (person) + 匕 (person inverted) · HSK 3
What 化 is made of
亻 + 匕 = 化
亻person (side form)
匕ladle / dagger
Where 化 comes from
Two figures, one upright and one flipped — a person turning over, becoming something else. The purest picture of transformation in the whole script.
化 in Chinese culture
变化 change, 文化 culture ('transformation through writing'), 化学 chemistry ('the study of transformations'). Modern Chinese bolts 化 onto anything to make '-ize': 现代化 modernize, 绿化 green-ify.
Example
文化 wénhuà — culture
我喜欢中国文化。
Wǒ xǐhuan Zhōngguó wénhuà.
I love Chinese culture.
How to remember it
One person upright, one flipped — TRANSFORMATION.
化 is the suffix engine of modern Chinese: globalization 全球化, digitization 数字化 — new '-izations' are coined weekly.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 化
文化 wénhuà
culture
变化 biànhuà
change
Related characters
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