思
Symbols Memory
remembering parents
ㄙ sī
Two versions of the same picture, and both are free with no account and no watermark. The first has no background at all, which is the one to send your artist — but a phone or computer photo viewer set to dark will show black strokes on dark grey and it can look like nothing downloaded. If that happens, use the second one: identical characters on a plain white background. Either way you get the characters on their own — the square and the faint guide lines you see above are not in the file. Each character is 1000px, so a two-character download is 2000×1000, and the script and layout are the ones you picked.
Script
Characters
Same in both
Layout
Rubbing mode: white on black, as a stone rubbing. The download is unaffected.
Missing the mother or father you can no longer do anything for. Chinese has a proverb for exactly this regret.
Before you commit
Choose with care思 is longing of any kind, romantic longing included. On its own it will not say parents - it needs 親 or a name beside it.
At small sizesNine strokes, a square over a heart radical. Balanced, and safe at small sizes and on curves.
Cultural noteThe saying is 子欲養而親不待 - the child wishes to care for the parents, but they will not wait. It is the standard line for this particular grief.
Meaning
To think of, to long for, to miss.
Longing that stays with you - the character in 思念 and 相思.
Other characters for “remembering parents”
What to do next
Pick the script and layout you want above, download the PNG, and send that file to your artist. Ask them to work from the file rather than redrawing the character freehand — that is where strokes go missing.
Related concepts