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

nature (the natural world)
lit. Yelang thinks highly of itself (idiom) / fig. foolish conceit
Weichang Manchu and Mongol autonomous county in Chengde 承德[Cheng2 de2], Hebei
local autonomy / home rule
Chengbu Miao Autonomous County in Shaoyang 邵陽|邵阳[Shao4 yang2], Hunan
Taxkorgan Tajik autonomous county (Tashqurqan Tajik aptonom nahiyisi) in Kashgar prefecture 喀什地區|喀什地区[Ka1 shi2 di4 qu1], west Xinjiang
Taxkorgan Tajik autonomous county (Tashqurqan Tajik aptonom nahiyisi) in Kashgar prefecture 喀什地區|喀什地区[Ka1 shi2 di4 qu1], west Xinjiang
Mojiang Hani Autonomous County in Pu'er 普洱[Pu3 er3], Yunnan
persisting in evil brings about self-destruction (idiom)
Dahua Yao Autonomous County in Hezhou 賀州|贺州[He4 zhou1], Guangxi
Dachang Hui autonomous county in Langfang 廊坊[Lang2 fang2], Hebei
Datong Hui and Tu autonomous county in Xining 西寧|西宁[Xi1 ning2], Qinghai
genius comes from hard effort / Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration (Thomas Edison)
Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County in Wuwei 武威[Wu3 wei1], Gansu
appearing to be praising others while actually praising yourself / one's criticism of others exposes one's own faults
to do one's best / to shape up / to behave / to fend for oneself / you're on your own
unable to contain one's joy (idiom)
(coll.) (Tw) to get sacked / to be fired

Sentences with 自

zì
cóng
bì
mǎ
we̅n
lái
cǐ
yǐ
hòu