日理万机 (rì lǐ wàn jī) — (idiom) to be extremely busy handling state affairs; to attend to countless matters daily

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.