You might remember the meaning of the character 叛 with this easy mnemonic:
The Kind raised his eyebrows (丷) when he learned that someone betrayed him by stealing his cows (牛) and tethering ten (十) of them to the cliff (厂). He tried again (又) and again to find the traitor.
Using mnemonics to remember the meaning of Chinese characters like has a huge impact on how long to learn Mandarin it takes.