当作
dāngzuò · HSK 6
regard as
🎭 当作 = treat-as + make/do; 'take it AS' something else
当 here means 'treat/consider as', 当 + 作 (do/make) literally stacks 'regard' + 'act': to act toward X as if it were Y. Common frame: 把 A 当作 B = treat A as B.
当 — small ⺌ + crown 冖 + hand 彐 (simplified from 當: 尚 + 田)
Originally written 當, combining 田 'field' with 尚 as a phonetic. The early sense was 'to match' or 'face' a field of equal value, extended to 'correspond to', 'ought to', and 'serve as'. The simplified form 当 streamlines the upper 尚 component.
作 — person radical 亻 + 乍
作 combines the person radical 亻 with 乍, which originally depicted a sudden action or making something. The character means 'to do, make, or create,' with 亻 indicating human activity and 乍 supplying the sound. Over time it broadened to cover works, deeds, and acting as something.