呼风唤雨
hū fēng huàn yǔ · HSK 7
to call the wind and summon the rain
🌬️🌧️ 呼 call + 风 wind + 唤 summon + 雨 rain = command the weather itself
风 — 几 (table) + 虫 (insect)
Originally written 鳳 (phoenix), later simplified. The traditional form 風 contains 虫 (insect), reflecting an old belief that wind brought insects or that creatures stirred with the wind. The modern simplified 风 keeps 几 as an outer frame around 㐅.
雨 — pictograph: sky 一 + cloud 冂 + four water drops
雨 is a pictograph showing rain falling from a cloud under the sky. The top horizontal stroke represents the sky, the enclosing shape depicts a cloud, and the four small strokes inside are falling raindrops. Its meaning 'rain' has stayed consistent since oracle bone script.