Radical 攵

11 strokes

filial piety 孝 (265a) + tap 攵 (190a) = teach 教

This character has two pronunciations but it means “teach” regardless! So (just this once) we have two different archetypes sharing the same story — except that as we are talking about an i- onglide, there are two of each, and so we end up with four altogether!

[教学 (82) jiàoxué teaching]

The filial piety teacher taps impatiently on his desk — he wants to get on and teach the lesson. / But the pupils are all distracted, listening to the sounds of the jousting tournament next door — two dwarves and two giants are in the semi-finals.

old man (261a) + child 子 (17) = filial piety 孝

This strange-sounding phrase means respect for parents and ancestors, which is a powerful tradition in China.

The old man was delighted to see that the child had been brought up to show filial piety (“Unlike most of the youth of today,” he mutters). / [No pronunciation needed]