不知
bù zhī · HSK 7
not to know
🤷 不 (not) + 知 (know) = not know; unaware
不 negates and 知 means 'to know' (mouth 口 + arrow 矢, knowledge flying from the mouth). Together: 'not knowing', unaware, or unknowingly. Also used in idioms like 不知所措 (at a loss what to do).
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'.