to rise / to flourish / to become popular / to start / to encourage / to get up / (often used in the negative) to permit or allow (dialect) / maybe (dialect)
feeling or desire to do sth / interest in sth / excitement
兴
=
小
+
一
+
八
:
I would say this one looks definitely like a hedgehog, but since there's already a character for hedgehog, let's call this one a sea star.
兴
=
小
+
一
+
八
:
Marie Curie found a sea star attached to a big eight ball in the engine's bathroom. As she is a curious and interested scientist, she wants to investigate the sea star, so she pokes it with a flute and tries to tickle it with a daisy.
mountain / hill / anything that resembles a mountain / CL:座[zuo4] / bundled straw in which silkworms spin cocoons / gable
山
=
丨
+
凵
:
Mnemonic symbol: 山 looks like the tip of a fork. Sherlock Holmes (sh) is climbing a mountain (山) in front of the anthill (an1). He uses a dinosaur bone (〡) as walking stick, and to have better grip he attached a fork (山) to its tip. Unfortunately he accidentally sticks the fork into a receptacle (凵) on the ground of the mountain and gets shocked.
area / region / district / small / distinguish / CL:個|个[ge4]
區
=
匚
+
品
:
Cupid receives a metal box in front of the space station. He opens it and finds a road sign with a pyramid on it. Clever as he is, he derives that it must have been sent to him from the region of Egypt.
区
=
乂
+
匚
:
Mnemonic symbol: An alien from Area 51.
区
=
乂
+
匚
:
Cupid is chilling in front of the space station, when an alien from Area 51 flies by and gives him a metal box. Unfortunately, even using pliers, Cupid is too weak to open it.