马戏
mǎ xì · HSK 7
circus
🎪🐴 马 horse + 戏 show = circus; named for old horse-acrobatics acts
马 means horse and 戏 means show or performance. Old circuses centered on horse-riding stunts, so the horse-show compound came to mean the whole circus.
马 — pictograph of a horse (simplified from 馬)
马 is a pictograph that originally depicted a horse in profile, with mane, legs, and tail clearly visible in the oracle bone and bronze script forms. The traditional form 馬 still preserves four dots representing the legs. The modern simplified form 马 streamlines these strokes but retains the same meaning: horse.
戏 — 戈 spear + 虚-variant 虍/seat (left)
Originally written 戲, combining a left element depicting a ceremonial vessel or tiger-headed seat with 戈 (spear/halberd) on the right, suggesting armed performance or mock combat. It came to mean 'play, drama, theatrical performance.' The modern simplified form 戏 keeps 戈 and replaces the complex left side with 又 (hand).