Mnemonic comic for

Translation

zì = z + Ø4: self / oneself / from / since / naturally / surely

Mnemonic

Mnemonic symbol: a hand mirror, which someone uses to look at themselves. The Eye of Providence (目) is looking at itself (自) in a handheld mirror (自) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). It think it's indeed looking very good, since Zorro (z) attached a petal (丶) to its eye (目).

自 character breakdown

"dot" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 3) / see also 點|点[dian3]

This character shall be represented by a petal (丶) when appearing in other characters.

Julian Giant Squid (zhu) is napping in the space station's living room (Ø3) and hugging a petal (丶).
eye / (literary) to look; to regard / eye (of a net); mesh / mesh size; grit size (abbr. for 目數|目数[mu4 shu4]) / item; section / list; catalogue / (taxonomy) order / name; title

= + : Mnemonic symbol: the Eye of Providence (目).

Malte Monkey (mu-) is unpacking an enclosure (囗) full of capacitors (二). He's afraid that the Eye of Providence (目) will see him, so he does it secretly in the space station's bathroom (-Ø4).

Characters with 自 as component

to reach / when
surname Yuan / (Japanese surname) Hara

= + + : Mnemonic symbol: I like how 原子, literally "original seed", means "atom". I'll represent 原 by 原子弹, an atomic bomb.

= + + : In the anthill's kitchen Yu the Great is modding a chocolate factory into a nuclear chocolate factory by powering it with an atomic bomb. Because it is hard to look inside the bomb through it's small opening, she uses a hand mirror to see inside and connect the wires. She also used a lot of daisies to decorate the bomb and underline her peaceful intentions.
former / original / primary / raw / level / cause / source

= + + : Mnemonic symbol: I like how 原子, literally "original seed", means "atom". I'll represent 原 by 原子弹, an atomic bomb.

= + + : In the anthill's kitchen Yu the Great is modding a chocolate factory into a nuclear chocolate factory by powering it with an atomic bomb. Because it is hard to look inside the bomb through it's small opening, she uses a hand mirror to see inside and connect the wires. She also used a lot of daisies to decorate the bomb and underline her peaceful intentions.
Character component without intrinsic meaning

Mnemonic symbol: a Sherpa, 夏尔巴人. Marie Curie (xi) gives a Sherpa (夏) 100 bucks (𦣻) to play a summer song on his flute (𦣻) and dance on high heels (夂) in the ashram's bathroom (a4).
nose

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a brandy nose.

Brunhilde (bi) was supposed to pass on (畀) the space station's brandy, but nobody came to the space station's entrance (Ø2) pick it up and so Brunhilde drank it all herself. Now as she is looking into her hand mirror (自) she notices that she got a big brandy nose (鼻).
to rest
variant of 憩[qi4]
guidepost / rule / standard / limit / target (old)
hard earth
deflated / shriveled / sunken / empty
variant of 癟|瘪[bie3]

Words with 自

comfortable; at ease
private; personal / secretly; without explicit approval
(I, they etc) of course have (a plan, a way etc) / one's own (apartment, brand etc)
Qianxinan Buyei and Miao autonomous prefecture in Guizhou, capital Xingyi city 興義市|兴义市
Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County in Guilin 桂林[Gui4 lin2], Guangxi
Gong Zizhen (1792-1841), Chinese man of letters, calligrapher and poet
goes without saying; obvious; self-evident
(idiom) however strong you are, there is always someone stronger
(mahjong) to self-draw the winning tile / (slang) to play with oneself; to masturbate
self-loading (weapon, tape deck etc)
Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Tibetan: Rma-lho Bod-rigs rang skyong khul) in Qinghai
Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou, capital Duyun City 都勻市|都匀市[Du1 yun2 Shi4]
Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture in Guizhou, capital Kaili city 凱里市|凯里市

Sentences with 自

zì
cóng
bì
mǎ
we̅n
lái
cǐ
yǐ
hòu