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

body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158

= + 丿 : Mnemonic symbol: a bodysuit.

Sherlock Holmes (sh) tries on his new bodysuit (身) in front of the encampment ((e)n1). To see himself better in his hand mirror (自), he uses a banana (丿) as a selfie stick.
I or me / we (including both the speaker and the person spoken to)

= + : In the anthill's kitchen (an2) Zorro (z) is looking into a hand mirror (自) while treating his skin with mandarin oil and declares: "You and I (咱), my dear friend, are really beautiful!"
variant of 咱[zan2]
variant of 咱[zan2]
see 咱[zan2]
sense of smell / smell bad
stench / smelly / to smell (bad) / repulsive / loathsome / terrible / bad / severely / ruthlessly / dud (ammunition)

= + : Charlie Chaplin (ch) has not showered for days and is very stinky (臭). In the outhouse's bathroom (ou4) the Saint Bernard dog (犬) even holds a mirror (自) in front of him to let him see how filthy he looks.
breath / news / interest (on an investment or loan) / to cease / to stop / to rest / Taiwan pr. [xi2]

= + : Marie Curie practices breathing fire in front of the space station while watching herself in a hand mirror. Because she is so exited her heart is pounding very hard.

= + : Mnemonic symbol: to breathe fire.
head / chief / first (occasion, thing etc) / classifier for poems, songs etc

= + : In the outhouse, the chief lends his piece pipe to Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock smokes some weed in the pipe and looks at himself in a hand mirror, thinking that he's uber cool and that he'd pass as a quite formidable chief himself.
summer

= 𦣻 + : 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).
the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC / Xia of the Sixteen Kingdoms (407-432) / surname Xia

= 𦣻 + : 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).

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

nǐ
yǒu
duo̅
dà
běn
lǐng
 
 
 
zì
che̅ng
qí
tia̅n
dà
shèng