综 zōng to sum up
How to remember 综: 纟 thread + 宗 ancestry = to sum up. At the family reunion grandpa pulls a red thread across the chart of their ancestry and tries to sum up five hundred years in one sentence.
Component breakdown
综 = 纟 thread + 宗 ancestry
- 纟 thread
- 宗 ancestry
At the family reunion grandpa pulls a red thread across the chart of their ancestry and tries to sum up five hundred years in one sentence.
How it is used
- 综 is a bound character that only really appears in one high-frequency word: 综合 zōnghé, meaning 'comprehensive/to integrate,' as in 综合能力 (zōnghé nénglì) overall ability.
- 综艺 zōngyì means 'variety show' (TV genre) - a fixed modern media term.
- 错综复杂 cuòzōng-fùzá is a set idiom for a tangled, complicated situation, used in writing or serious discussion, not casual chat.