麻
má · HSK 7
hemp
🌿 麻 = 广 shelter over 林 two plants: stalks of hemp drying under a roof
The radical 广 is an open-sided shed; beneath it sits 林, a pair of trees or plants. Hemp and flax stalks were hung under such shelters to dry before the fiber was stripped for textiles. Same character also covers sesame.
麻 — shelter 广 + two 林 (hemp fibers)
Originally a pictograph of hemp fibers (林-like shape) being processed under a shelter (广), depicting the workshop where bast fibers were stripped and dried. The core meaning was 'hemp/cannabis plant,' later extended to 'numb' or 'tingling' from the sensation hemp can cause, and to 'rough' textures like hemp cloth.