龟
guī · HSK 7
tortoise
🐢 guī sounds like gooey — a turtle tucks into its shell when poked
The character 龟 is an ancient pictograph of a turtle: the top is the head, the boxy middle is the shell, and the strokes below form the legs and tail.
龟 — pictograph of a turtle (head, shell, legs, tail)
龟 is a pictograph showing a turtle viewed from the side: head at top, curved shell in the middle, legs on one side, and tail at the bottom. Early oracle bone forms looked very turtle-like; the modern character is a simplified, stylized version of that drawing.