房东
fáng dōng · HSK 3
landlord
🏠 房 (house) + 东 (east/host) = house-host = landlord
东 originally meant east but extended to 'host/owner' (the host traditionally sat on the east side). So 房东 literally decomposes as house + host — the owner of the house you rent.
东 — sun 日 behind tree 木
Traditionally explained as the sun 日 rising behind a tree 木, pointing to the direction of sunrise — east. Modern paleography suggests the original graph depicted a bundle tied at both ends, and the 'sun-in-tree' reading is a later folk etymology, though it remains the standard mnemonic.