不容
bù róng · HSK 7
to not allow
🚫 不 (not) + 容 (tolerate/allow) = cannot tolerate, must not
容 alone means to contain or to tolerate. Prefix it with 不 (not) and you get a firm denial: this will not be tolerated, this cannot be allowed. Think of a stern bouncer saying NO ENTRY.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.