东 (traditional 東) was pictured as the sun (日) rising behind a tree (木) — the sun coming up in the EAST. The simplified 东 keeps a quick echo of that shape. Direction told by where the sun rises.
东 is east — and the first half of one of Chinese's most charming words: 东西 (dōngxi, east-west) literally means 'thing / stuff'! '买东西' = to go shopping ('buy east-west'). One old story says people once shopped at markets to the east and west of town. 东 also means 'host/owner' (房东 = landlord). And 东方 = 'the East / the Orient'.
The sun rising behind a tree — the EAST.
东西 ('east-west') means 'thing/stuff'! 买东西 = go shopping. One tale: old markets sat east and west of town, so 'buying east-west' became 'buying things'.