如下
rú xià · HSK 5
as follows
👇 如下 = like + below; literally 'as below' = as follows
如 means 'like/as' and 下 means 'below/down'. Together 如下 literally reads 'as below', the standard written cue pointing to text that comes next on the page.
如 — woman radical 女 + mouth 口
Originally a phono-semantic compound where 女 (woman) suggested compliance and 口 (mouth) indicated speaking or following orders. The early sense was 'to follow' or 'to comply with what is said,' which extended to 'to be like' or 'as if.' Modern uses like 'if' and 'such as' grew from this comparative meaning.
下 — horizontal line 一 + mark below
下 is an indicative character: a long horizontal line represents a reference level, and a shorter stroke placed beneath it points to the area below. The original meaning 'below, down' comes directly from this spatial diagram, and it later extended to verbs like 'descend' and 'lower'.