粥
yù , zhoū · HSK 6
congee
🥣 two bows 弓弓 flank rice 米 in the middle — boiled down to porridge
The structure is 弓 + 米 + 弓. Rice broken down between two bent shapes gives you congee. zhōu is the everyday Chinese word for the watery breakfast porridge served plain or with toppings.
粥 — bow 弓 + rice 米 + bow 弓
Originally an ideograph showing rice (米) cooking between rising vapor lines, depicted as two bow shapes (弓) representing steam. The character pictures grain simmering in water until soft. It primarily means rice porridge or congee (zhōu); the rare reading yù means to sell, a borrowed sense later written as 鬻.