秋

Left grain radical (Kangxi #115) — pictograph of a ripe grain stalk with its drooping head, here the indexing radical and the core image. Autumn is the season when grain ripens and is harvested; the radical anchors that agricultural meaning. Same radical drives 稻 (rice), 稼 (sow), 穗 (grain ear), 秧 (seedling).

Right fire pictograph — leaping flames. Together with the grain on the left, 秋 is a vivid compound ideograph: ripe grain glowing in the fire-coloured sun of autumn, or by some readings grain stubble burned off after harvest. Either picture lands on the same season. From this scene 秋 took on metaphorical senses too — 'a critical moment' (危急存亡之秋), 'a year' (千秋万代).