遮 zhē to cover
to cover; to protect; to shield; to cover up; to hide; to conceal
How to remember 遮: 辶 road + 广 broad + 廿 twenty + 灬 fire = to cover. Caught in a storm, twenty hikers crowd under a broad wooden roof by the road and hold their jackets over the fire to cover it from the rain.
Component breakdown
遮 = 辶 road + 庶
- 辶 road
- 庶
- 广 broad
- 廿 twenty
- 灬 fire
Caught in a storm, twenty hikers crowd under a broad wooden roof by the road and hold their jackets over the fire to cover it from the rain.
How it is used
- 'To cover/block/shield (from view or from sun/rain)' - 遮住 (zhēzhù) to block, 遮阳 (zhēyáng) to shade from sun, 遮盖 (zhēgài) to cover up.
- 遮 blocks the line of sight or a ray; contrast 盖 (gài, to cover over the top) and 挡 (dǎng, to obstruct/fend off). 遮遮掩掩 (zhēzhē-yǎnyǎn) means to hide furtively.
- 一手遮天 (yìshǒu-zhētiān): to hide the sky with one hand - to conceal the truth by abusing power.