盾

Bottom eye radical (Kangxi #109) — the indexing radical, a vertical pictograph of an eye seen from the side. Carries the iconography: a soldier peering out from behind their shield, eye visible just under the cover. Same radical anchors 看, 眼, 睡, 直 — the family of eyes and seeing. 盾 = eye (目) under cover (厂) with handle (十) = warrior crouched behind a shield.

Top-left 厂 wrapper — a slanted shelter or overhanging cover. In 盾 the cover represents the upper rim of a shield raised overhead, the part that protects the head from arrows above. Same wrapping role in 厨, 厕, 厦 — characters where the 厂 frames a sheltered space. Two strokes: a horizontal cap and a left-falling slope.

Middle cross-stroke acts as a positional marker between the cover above and the eye below — pedagogically the handle behind the shield, where the warrior grips while peeking through. Visually 十-shaped but carrying no numerical sense. Historically the residue of an older grip-and-arm element.