工

work / worker / skill / profession / trade / craft / labor

工 = 二 + 丨 : Mnemonic symbol: a steel beam, since 工 looks like the cross section of a steel beam.

Gitta Giraffe (gu) is working a shift in front of the engine ((e)ng1). Her job is to melt dinosaur bones (丨) so that they can be disposed off easily. To melt the bones, she is shorting a huge capacitor (二) with a steel beam (工) which consequently heats up to a bright glow. Using the glowing hot steel beam she can melt the dinosaur bone easily.

工 character breakdown

工
- 丨
- 二
  - 一

丨

gǔn = gu + (e)n3

radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 2)

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Gitta Giraffe (gu-) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the encampment's living room ((e)n3).

丨

shù = shu + Ø4

vertical stroke (in Chinese characters), referred to as 豎筆|竖笔[shu4 bi3]

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Sheldon Shrimp (shu) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and is cracking it open to eat its bone marrow.

二

èr = Ø + Ø4

two / 2 / (Beijing dialect) stupid

二 = 一 : Mnemonic symbol: a capacitor, because the two strokes remind me of the symbol in electrical drawings. Albert Einstein (Ø) is experimenting with a capacitor (二) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He finds that it's uncomfortable to discharge a capacitor using two flutes (一).

Characters with 工 as component

项

項

xiàng = xi + ang4

back of neck / item / thing / term (in a mathematical formula) / sum (of money) / classifier for principles, items, clauses, tasks, research projects etc

项 = 工 + 页 : Mnemonic symbol: a necklace (项). Marie Curie (xi) lost her necklace in the anglepod's bathroom (ang4) and tries to get it out of the toilet again. Marie jotted down some calculations (项) on a sheet of paper (页) and uses a steel beam (工) as a lever to get his necklace out by putting the lever at the exact right position and the sheet of paper on top of the other side of the lever.

项

項

xiàng = xi + ang4

surname Xiang

经

經

ji̅ng = ji + (e)ng1

classics / sacred book / scripture / to pass through / to undergo / to bear / to endure / warp (textile) / longitude / menstruation / channel (TCM) / abbr. for economics 經濟|经济[jing1 ji4]

经 = 纟 + 又 + 工 : Joan of Arc is boiling with indignation when she sees a silk worm (or rather a book worm?) looking out of a hole in her sacred tome in front of the engine. To drive the worm out, Joan of Arc attached a boxing glove to a steel beam and gains momentum for her sucker punch.

红

紅

hóng = hu + (e)ng2

red / popular / revolutionary / bonus

红 = 工 + 纟 : Mnemonic symbol: a little red book.

Helga Horse (hu) is reading the little red book (红) in the engine's kitchen ((e)ng2), when she discovers that it is being eaten by a silk worm (纟). She overreacts a little and wants to beat the silk worm with a steel beam (工).

红

紅

hóng = hu + (e)ng2

surname Hong

垂

chuí = chu + ei2

to hang (down) / droop / dangle / bend down / hand down / bequeath / nearly / almost / to approach

垂 = 壬 + 工 + 工 : The cat o' nine tails (壬) has been chasing Chantal Chicken (chu) all around the Eiffel Tower. In the kitchen (ei2) there is a weeping willow (垂, 垂柳) on which Chantal Chicken sits. Next to the willow, the cat o' nine tails is approaching. Both of them are holding a steel beam (工) in their hands to use as sword in their final encounter.

缸

ga̅ng = g + ang1

jar / vat / classifier for loads of laundry / CL:口[kou3]

毁

毀

huǐ = hu + ei3

to destroy / to damage / to ruin / to defame / to slander

毁 = 臼 + 工 + 殳 : Helga Horse (hu) wants to destroy (毁) a left over steel beam (工) in the Eiffel Tower (ei3) and uses a halberd (殳) to pulverize it in a mortar (臼). During this process she does not only destroy the steel beam, but also the halberd.

毁

燬

huǐ = hu + ei3

variant of 毀|毁[hui3] / to destroy by fire / a blaze