幕后
mù hoù · HSK 7
behind the scenes
🎭 幕 = stage curtain + 后 = behind; what happens behind the curtain
幕 is the theatre curtain (same 幕 as in 开幕, the opening of a show) and 后 means behind or after. Put them together and you get the action that goes on behind the curtain, out of the audience's sight.
幕 — grass 艹 + sun 日 + big 大 + cloth 巾
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 莫 (mù, sunset/dusk) provides the sound and the idea of evening, while 巾 (cloth) gives the meaning. It depicted a cloth hung at dusk, hence 'curtain' or 'tent,' later extended to 'act/scene' in a play.
后 — 厂 cliff + 一 + 口 mouth
Originally depicted a ruler or sovereign issuing commands, showing a figure with a mouth giving orders. It came to mean 'queen' or 'empress.' In modern simplified Chinese, 后 also absorbed the meaning 'behind/after' from the traditional character 後, so context decides which sense applies.