初 chū at first; first
Made up of [衤 yī clothes radical 145, 刀 dāo knife ]Made with 7 strokes.
Consists of knife and cloth, and as this the first stage of making clothes it evokes 'first steps'
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 衤 yī component: 袄 ǎo (jacket) 农 nóng (to farm)
Also uses 刀 dāo component: 分 fēn (divide) 剪 jiǎn (scissors) ; 所 suǒ (actually) ; 照 zhào (according to)
Sounds same
出 chū (go out)Different tone
处 chù (place) ; 畜 chù (livestock)Pronunciation
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