TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
楚
楚 ＝ 林 ＋ 疋
ㄔㄨˇ · chǔ
adj — clear, distinct; noun — the Chu state; pain
字源 FORM — what the parts do
疋聲shū — gives the soundalso reads pǐ; a foot below, hard to spot in the lower half
IFT≠shū → chǔ, a long slide off the donor — the same 疋 in 疏 shū, 蔬 shū
A thicket of trees (林) over 疋. 說文: 叢木，一名荊也 — the thorn-bush. 疋 lends the sound, worn far from shū. From the dense bramble comes clear: out of a tangle, every twig stands sharp and separate — 清楚.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
兩棵樹（林）擠成一片荊叢，腳（疋）一根根撥開，枝條看得清清楚楚。
Trees (林) crowd into bramble; a foot (疋) parts them stalk by stalk — and every twig comes clear.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)叢木、荊楚— a thicket; thorn-brush
→清楚、楚楚— clear; distinct常用
→痛楚、酸楚— pain; bitterness
→楚國— the state of Chu
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension