闭幕
bì mù · HSK 5
fall
🎭 闭 (close) + 幕 (curtain) = curtain closes, event ends
闭 means to close or shut; 幕 is a stage curtain or screen. Together they describe the closing of a curtain, used figuratively for ending a meeting, ceremony, or performance. Opposite of 开幕 (opening ceremony).
闭 — door 門 + talent 才
Originally written 閉, showing a door 門 with a bar or bolt inside (the 才 component depicts the latch, not the modern meaning 'talent'). The character pictures a door barred shut, giving the meaning 'to close' or 'shut'. The simplified form 闭 keeps the same structure with the reduced door radical 门.
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.