孛

Bottom child radical — the indexing radical. Pictures a swaddled infant with outstretched arms. Anchors 孛 in the offspring/growth family with 孩, 孟, 孔. Here the child evokes new growth bursting upward; in classical astronomy 孛 names a comet (彗孛), seen as a fiery 'broom-child' streaking across the sky.

Top cross-stroke functions as an abstract marker positioning the head of the stacked figure below — visually the 'ten' graph but carrying no numerical sense. Historically the radiating point at the top of the original sprouting-plant or comet-burst pictograph, now compressed into a pure positional cap.

Middle cover radical — a narrow horizontal hook. Stacked between the top-radiance and the child below, it suggests a canopy or wrapping layer. In the comet sense of 孛 the cover represents the trailing haze; in the older 'rebellious flourishing' sense it caps the burst of growth from beneath.