序幕
xù mù · HSK 7
prologue
🎭 序幕 = 序 (preface/order) + 幕 (stage curtain/act) — the opening curtain of a play
序 carries the sense of a preface or ordered beginning; 幕 is the curtain or act of a theatrical performance. Together they name the prologue: the scene before the main acts, when the curtain first parts.
序 — 广 radical (shelter) + 予 (give/I)
Originally depicted the side walls or wings of a building under the 广 (shelter) radical, with 予 serving as the phonetic component. From 'side wall' it extended to mean 'sequence' or 'order,' as walls were arranged in succession. Today it commonly means 'order,' 'sequence,' or 'preface.'
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.