相

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inter-

On-Yomi: ソウ、ショウ — Kun-Yomi: あい-

Elements:

inter-, tree, wood, eye

Heisig story:

The prefix inter- stirs up associations of cooperation among people. From there we read off the elements: tree . . . eye. With only a slight leap of the imagination, those two words call to mind the scriptural proverb about first taking the block of timber out of one's own eye before helping your neighbors with the splinter in theirs. What more useful rule for inter-human relationships, and what more useful tool for remembering this kanji!

Koohii stories:

1) [ashman63] 25-3-2008(225): The prime minister is having inter-course behind that tree! All you can see are his eyes poking out from the righthand-side of the tree.

2) [PeterJD] 8-4-2008(94): ソウ/ショウ/あ INTER /MUTUAL /ASPECT /PHASE /MINISTER. "Long ago, before there were telephones, people living far from one another would climb trees to eye each other's aspects and inter-act for their mutual benefit. Those who did this best became government ministers, with the top person (perhaps the one with the longest neck ( 首 , neck (#70 首)) becoming the prime minister 「首相 (しゅしょう)".

3) [gaijinda] 16-10-2007(39): I changed my story to remind myself there are other primary meanings for this character: The Minister of Trees has a good eye for inter-action.

4) [Ameyama] 26-2-2008(30): A piece of wood went "inter" my eye. This is an internal injury.

5) [meredithcat] 29-6-2010(25): Intercourse usually occurs between two people lying beneath a tree, gazing into each other's eyes.

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