前qián

WHOLE CHARACTER

前qián

front; ahead (of space); before; ago (of time); forward (前进); first; preceding (前五名)

前 is front and before — the space ahead, the time gone by, and moving forward.

ZDIC marks 会意 without naming the pieces; the modern form is shown as a crown-like top over the paired bottom pieces.

TOP CROWN-LIKE PIECE

䒑

Notice this part of the shape; it is not taught as a separate word in this lesson.

In 前: top crown-like piece A two-dot-and-stroke top; no historical role is claimed.

BOTTOM PIECE (THE MOON-SHAPED PIECE BESIDE THE KNIFE SIDE 刂)

刖yuè

an ancient punishment of cutting the feet

A dictionary graph; in 前 it is shown only as the written bottom piece, not taught as this word.

In 前: bottom piece (the moon-shaped piece beside the knife side 刂) ZDIC lists 刂 as the radical; the combined bottom is shown as one visual piece and not taught as the standalone character 刖.