古

gu

ancient, old

a tombstone old cross on an ancient headstone 

攵

pu 

故

gu

reason, cause

age-old (gu) + strike (pu)

a reason for an age-old fight over a tombstone

做

zuo

do

person (ren) + happening (gu)

a person needs a reason to do something

女

nu

姑

gu

(paternal) aunt

woman (nu) + age-old (gu)

an old woman of marriageable age;

father's sister, mother in law

艹

cao

苦

ku

bitter

grass (cao) + age-old (gu)

a bitter grass for the ancient herb medicine

肉

rou

胡

hu

recklessly

age-old (gu) + meat/flesh (rou)

tombstones are full young flesh buried becuase of living recklessly 

湖

hu

lake

water (shui) + recklessly (hu)

recklessly swimming in old lakes 'buried' a lot of young flesh

人

ren

克

ke

overcome

age-old (gu) + person (ren)

a  person is willing to do everything to overcome death