Facts on the board and in the voice

Checked on Dong Chinese (dong-chinese.com), which quotes the Shuowen and shows historical forms from the Academia Sinica character database (小學堂).

1. 射 is a bow and a hand; later written 身 + 寸. Shuowen, 射: 「弓弩發於身而中於遠也。從矢，從身。射，篆文從寸。寸，法度也，亦手也。」 ("A bow or crossbow is let go from the body and hits far off. From 矢, from 身. In seal script 射 is written with 寸. 寸 means a rule, and also the hand.") Etymology on the page: "Depicts a hand (又) pulling back a bowstring (弓) with an arrow (矢) to shoot. Later written as 身 and 寸." https://www.dong-chinese.com/wiki/射 → board: 「身←弓 · 寸←手」, 「弓 + 手」; voice lines 4–6 and 8.
2. 矮 = 矢 (meaning) + 委 (sound). Shuowen Xinfu: 「矮，短人也。從矢，委聲。」 ("矮: a short person. From 矢, with 委 as the sound.") "Phonosemantic compound. 矢 represents the meaning and 委 represents the sound." https://www.dong-chinese.com/wiki/矮 → board: 「矢 + 委 / arrow → length · wei → sound」; voice line 8 (委只管讀音).
3. 短: the arrow as the measure of length. Shuowen: 「短，有所長短，以矢為正。從矢，豆聲。」 ("短: where there is long and short, the arrow is the standard. From 矢, with 豆 as the sound.") https://www.dong-chinese.com/wiki/短 → board: 「以矢為正 / the arrow is the ruler」, the arrow laid as a ruler; voice line 7.
4. The popular claim (射 = "one inch tall" should mean short; 矮 = "let an arrow go" should mean shoot) is a saying that circulates online. In the film it is the child's question and the first three voice lines, credited to no one. "委 has a sense of letting go" belongs to that claim only.
5. The four forms of 射 on the timeline are simplified chalk redrawings after the forms shown on the 射 page above: oracle script (c. 1250–1000 BC, a bow with an arrow), bronze script (early Western Zhou, a hand added at the string), seal script as given in the Shuowen (身 + 寸), and regular script. They are teaching sketches, not tracings of a specific inscription.
6. Stroke order follows GF 0023-2020 (通用規範漢字筆順規範).
7. The date on the board, 28 October 2026, is a Wednesday.