理 /lǐ/ ORDER, PAY ATTENTION (to somebody)
The character consists of 王 – it looks like /wáng/ A KING but here it represents /yù/ A JADE (precious stone that Chinese used for ritual purposes).
The other part is 里 /lǐ/ – it means INSIDE but more important is how it looks. It looks like A GRID.
This characters shows A GRID of veins in A JADE – and these veins are organised in certain ORDER.
TEST WHAT YOU KNOW
Pick the right character(s) for DIRECTOR
总理
zǒnglǐ
PREMIER
理
lǐ
ORDER
经理
jīnglǐ
DIRECTOR
理
lǐ
PAY ATTENTION
Pinyin
汉字
LEARN NEW
ORDER RELATED
PSYCHOLOGY
(major)
心理学
xīnlǐxué
xīnlǐxué
PHYSICS
物理学
wùlǐxué
wùlǐxué
ORDER
理
lǐ
lǐ
MANAGER
MANAGE
管理
guǎnlǐ
guǎnlǐ
DIRECTOR
经理
jīnglǐ
jīnglǐ
HANDLE
DEAL WITH
处理
chǔlǐ
chǔlǐ
IDEAL
理想
lǐxiǎng
lǐxiǎng
PREMIER
总理
zǒnglǐ
zǒnglǐ
PSYCHOLOGY
心理
xīnlǐ
xīnlǐ
to FIX
to REPAIR
修理
xiūlǐ
xiūlǐ
REASON
SENSE
道理
dàolǐ
dàolǐ
Is director wang here?
王 经理 现在 在 不 在？
<Wáng jīnglǐ xiànzài zàibuzai?>
I don’t care what the manager says.
The director has surely already decided.
REASON / REASONABLE
When something is REASONABLE, there is a WAY 道 and there is ORDER 理.
REASONABLE
RATIONAL
合理
hélǐ
hélǐ
REASON
SENSE
道理
dàolǐ
dàolǐ
Things that he says make no sense.
他 说 的 东西 没有 道理。
Tā shuō de dōngxi méiyǒu dàolǐ.
Their prices are not reasonable.
他们 的 价格 不 合理。
Tāmen de jiàgé bù hélǐ.
The price of Apple cellphones is not reasonable.
苹果 手机 的 价格 不 合理。
Píngguǒ shǒujī de jiàgé bù hélǐ.
The things that he said yesterday make sense.
他 昨天 说 的 东西 有 道理。
Tā zuótiān shuō de dōngxi yǒu dàolǐ.
