Chinlingo Chinese character: 化 (huà)

"化" (huà) is a left-right structured character. "亻" on its left (Still remember it? It is called "单人旁" (dān rén pánɡ, single person radical) represents a person, while "七" on its right also represents a person, but a person on his or her head. How are these related to the meaning of "化"?

"化（huà）"字为左右结构，其左边是"亻"（还记得它吗？: 单人旁 dān rén pánɡ )，代表一个人 。右边的"七"，也代表一个人，只是，它是由倒立的人演化而来的。这跟"化（huà）"字的意思有什么关系呢？

The ancient form of "化" is composed of a person on his or her feet and a person on his or her head. It looks like a person practicing a backward somersault, which is in fact a change (变化, biàn huà). Thus, "化" meant "change" originally.

"化（huà）"的古文字是由一个正立的人和一个倒立的人构成，就犹如一个人后空翻颠倒了过来，"颠倒了"就是发生了"变化"，所以"化（huà）"字的本义就是"变化"。

The original meaning has still been in use so far. In modern Chinese, "化" is usually used after a noun or adjective to indicate change of a property or state, as shown in "丑化" (chǒu huà, uglify or smear), "美化" (měi huà, beautify), and "绿化" (lǜ huà, afforest).

汉字"化（huà）"的本义一直沿用到现在。在现代汉语中，也常用在名词或形容词后面，表示转变成某种性质或状态，比如："丑化（chǒu huà）"、"美化（měi huà）"、"绿化（lǜ huà）"等。 

In addition, I can tell you other meanings of "化" other than the original one.

如果你想有更多的了解，我还可以告诉你，在现代汉语中，"化（huà）"除了本义之外的其他含义：

"educate/remold" as in "教化" (jiào huà, educate)

表示教育、改造：教化（jiào huà）

"melt/dissolve" as in "融化" (rónɡ huà, thaw)

表示溶解、烧熔：融化 (rónɡ huà)

"assimilate/ absorb" as in "消化" (xiāo huà, digest)

表示可被吸收：消化（xiāo huà）

"custom /atmosphere" as in "文化" (wén huà, culture)

表示风俗、风气：文化（wén huà）

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