则
zé · HSK 7
then
則 = shell 貝 + knife 刀: a knife carving the rule, rule then follows
The old form 則 joins 貝 (bronze vessel) and 刀 (knife), the act of carving fixed laws. From rule or standard it shifted to the linking sense then or in that case: A happens, 则 B follows.
则 — knife 刂 + shell/money 貝 (simplified to 贝)
则 originally showed a knife (刂) beside a tripod cauldron (鼎), later simplified to 贝. It depicted inscribing laws or rules onto bronze vessels with a knife. From this came the meanings 'rule, standard, regulation,' and by extension the conjunction 'then' indicating a logical consequence.