内幕
nèi mù · HSK 7
inside story
🎭 内 inside + 幕 curtain = what goes on behind the curtain: the inside story
内 means inner or inside; 幕 is the stage curtain or backdrop. Together they name the non-public goings-on hidden behind the curtain — the internal scoop the audience never sees.
内 — enclosure 冂 + enter 入
内 originally depicted something entering (入) into an enclosed space (冂), giving the core sense of 'inside' or 'within'. The pictographic image of going into a covered area extended naturally to meanings like inner, internal, and inland. It contrasts with 外 ('outside').
幕 — grass 艹 + sun 日 + big 大 + cloth 巾
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 莫 (mù, sunset/dusk) provides the sound and the idea of evening, while 巾 (cloth) gives the meaning. It depicted a cloth hung at dusk, hence 'curtain' or 'tent,' later extended to 'act/scene' in a play.