闭幕式
bì mù shì · HSK 5
closing ceremony
🎬 闭 (close) + 幕 (curtain) + 式 (ceremony)
闭 means close/shut, 幕 is the stage curtain, and 式 marks a formal ceremony. Together: the curtain-closing ceremony that ends an event like the Olympics or a festival.
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.
式 — 工 (work) + 弋 (phonetic)
式 is a phono-semantic compound: 工 ('work, craft') gives the meaning of a tool, rule, or method, while 弋 supplies the sound. It originally referred to a standard pattern or model used in craftsmanship, then broadened to mean 'style, form, ceremony, or formula.'