逢凶化吉 (féng xiōng huà jí) — to turn bad luck into good fortune; to have a narrow escape that ends well

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

In 逢, 辶 is the walking part and 夆 is the sound part.

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

凶 originally drew a hole with a lump of rock, mud, stone, or bamboo in it.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the earliest forms, 吉 was drawn with a mouth-like lower part and an upper part that later became today's upper shape.