Radical 白

6 strokes

thumb tack (40a) + sun 日 (6) = hundred 百

You might feel that this character could be split into “one” plus “white”, and you’d be right. there will be quite a few cases where there might seem to be a choice as to how a character can be broken down into building blocks. there is no single correct way, and if you prefer an alternative then simply make up an alternative story to go with your choice.

[三百 (3) sānbǎi three hundred]

You see a thumb tack (on the road), glinting in the sun. When you look more closely, you can see there are a hundred of them. / Teddy has sprinkled them on the new bypass (as a protest against it being built near his home).

“Thumb tack” is our name for this shape which is found at the top of some characters, and which looks like a squashed nail which has got slightly bent.