A whole tree in five strokes: trunk, two branches reaching for the sky, two roots gripping the earth. The scribes loved stacking it — two trees make 林 (woods), three make 森 (forest). Chinese characters grow the way trees do: simple pictures combining into richer meanings.
A piece of culture
The five elements Wood (木) is one of the five elements (五行) — wood, fire, earth, metal, water — that classical Chinese thought used to explain everything from seasons to medicine to music. Wood is spring, east, the color green, and growth. The five-element cycle still shapes feng shui, traditional medicine, and even how some parents pick baby names today.
Use it in a real word
木马
mùmǎ · muk6 maa5
wooden horse — from rocking horses to the Trojan horse