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chair

12 strokes · 木 (wood radical) + 奇 (sound) — the wooden thing you lean on · HSK 1

Where 椅 comes from

椅 is wood 木 plus 奇 for sound. Here's the surprise: ancient Chinese sat on mats — chairs arrived from Central Asia around the Tang dynasty as exotic 'barbarian beds'. A new word was needed, so wood + a sound made 椅.

椅 in Chinese culture

椅 seats the room: 椅子 (chair — the everyday word), 轮椅 (wheelchair — 'wheel chair'). The chair quietly revolutionized China: sitting up high changed table heights, then kitchens, then banquets — food history pivots on furniture. The emperor's throne stayed a 座 or 宝座, but everyone else's dignity now rests on a humble 椅子.

Example

椅子 yǐzi — chair

桌子旁边有四把椅子。
Zhuōzi pángbiān yǒu sì bǎ yǐzi.
There are four chairs by the table.

How to remember it

A wooden 木 oddity 奇 the ancients didn't have — the CHAIR.

Chairs reached China ~1,200 years ago; before that, everyone knelt on mats — the chair changed Chinese posture forever.

Same sound, different tones

1st yī
clothes
2nd yí
odd (in 奇怪)
3rd yǐ
chair

Words unlocked by 椅

椅子 yǐzi
chair
轮椅 lúnyǐ
wheelchair
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