ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
制
to make; system; to control
zhì
8 strokes · 未 (branching tree) + 刂 (knife) — cutting timber to shape · HSK 3
Where 制 comes from
A knife 刂 trimming a branching tree 未: cutting raw material to shape. Making things led to the systems that regulate them — manufacture and control in one blade.
制 in Chinese culture
中国制造 Made in China — the phrase on half the world's packaging. 制度 system/institution, 控制 to control, 限制 to limit. The knife radical quietly links making and governing.
Example
制造 zhìzào — to manufacture
这是中国制造的。
Zhè shì Zhōngguó zhìzào de.
This is made in China.
How to remember it
A KNIFE shapes the wood — MAKING things, then the SYSTEM that controls them.
中国制造 'Made in China' may be the most-printed Chinese phrase on Earth — check the nearest label.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 制
制造 zhìzào
to manufacture
控制 kòngzhì
to control
Related characters
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