开幕
kāimù · HSK 5
inaugurate
🎭 开 (open) + 幕 (curtain) = raise the curtain, inaugurate
开 means open; 幕 is a stage curtain or screen. Together 开幕 literally means open-the-curtain, used for opening ceremonies, exhibitions, and meetings. Opposite is 闭幕 (close-the-curtain, closing ceremony).
开 — two hands 廾 + door 门 (open gate)
Originally written 開, showing two hands (廾) lifting the bar (一) off a gate (門) to open it. The simplified form 开 keeps the two-hands element and drops the gate. Core meaning 'to open' extended to 'start, operate, bloom'.
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.