化身
huà shēn · HSK 7
personification
🦋 化身 = transform (化) + body (身); the body a thing changes into
化 means transform or change, 身 means body. Together: the bodily form an idea or spirit takes on, an embodiment or incarnation. A caterpillar 化 into a butterfly is the same 化 of transformation.
化 — person 亻 + spoon/upside-down person 匕
化 is an associative compound showing a standing person 亻 next to 匕, originally a depiction of a person turned upside-down. Together they suggest a figure transforming from one state to another, giving the core meaning 'change' or 'transform'. The character later extended to senses like 'convert', 'influence', and the noun suffix '-ization'.
身 — pictograph of a pregnant body
身 is a pictograph originally depicting a person with a swollen belly, representing a pregnant woman in profile. Over time the meaning broadened from 'pregnancy' or 'torso' to refer to the body in general, and by extension oneself or one's person.