处理
chǔlǐ · HSK 3
handle
⚙️ 处 = place/deal with + 理 = manage/reason; 'place-manage' = handle it
处 means to deal with or be located at; 理 means to manage or put in order (originally 'to work jade along its grain'). Together: managing a matter, i.e. handling or processing it.
处 — 夂 (foot) + 几 (low table/stool)
Originally depicted a person stopping (夂, an inverted foot) beside a stool (几), suggesting someone settling down in a place. From 'to dwell/stay' the meaning broadened to 'place, location' (chù) and 'to handle, deal with' (chǔ). The simplified form drops the older 虍 top found in 處.
理 — jade radical 玉/王 + village 里 (phonetic)
理 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the jade radical 王 (玉) on the left signals meaning, while 里 on the right gives the sound. It originally meant the natural veins or grain in a piece of jade, then extended to 'pattern,' 'order,' 'principle,' and finally the modern senses 'reason' and 'to manage.'