串
chuàn · HSK 6
to skewer
🍢 串 = two 口 boxes pierced by a vertical 丨 skewer
The character is a pictograph: a stick (丨) running through two squares (口口), depicting beads or chunks of meat threaded on a skewer. From that literal skewering came the extended senses: string together, link up, and by extension conspire or gang up.
串 — two 口 boxes pierced by vertical line 丨
串 is a pictograph showing objects skewered together on a stick, like beads on a string or meat on a skewer. The two boxes represent items threaded onto the central vertical line. From this concrete image came the meanings 'string together,' 'skewer,' and the verb 'to link' or 'connect in a series.'