jiǎn

simple

uncomplicated; letter; to choose; to select; bamboo strips used for writing (old)

bamboo (⺮) + 间 (间) = simple bamboo-strip message

Ancient Chinese wrote on narrow bamboo strips, so a single strip meant a short, direct message — hence both 'letter' and 'simple.' 间 lends the sound jiǎn and does not carry the meaning here.

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BambooSemantic
BetweenPhonetic

Words with 简

邮简

yóu jiǎn

letter sheet (similar to an aerogram but not necessarily sent by airmail)

头脑简单四肢发达

tóu nǎo jiǎn dān sì zhī fā dá

all brawn no brains

不简单

bù jiǎn dān

not simple; rather complicated

二简

èr jiǎn

Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (abbr. for 第二次漢字簡化方案|第二次汉字简化方案[Di4 er4 Ci4 Han4 zi4 Jian3 hua4 Fang1 an4])

删简压缩

shān jiǎn yā suō

to simplify and condense (a text)

因陋就简

yīn lòu jiù jiǎn

crude but simple methods (idiom); use whatever methods you can

从简

cóng jiǎn

to adopt a simplified approach; to keep things simple

时间简史

shí jiān jiǎn shǐ

"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking

书简

shū jiǎn

(literary) letter

极简主义

jí jiǎn zhǔ yì

minimalism

汉简

hàn jiǎn

bamboo slip used for record keeping during the Han Dynasty

生平简介

shēng píng jiǎn jiè

biographic sketch

More characters with ⺮