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自强 (zì qiáng) — to strengthen oneself; to strive for self-improvement (with a connotation of resilience and moral effort)

Definition

A formal, written term for 'self-strengthening' — pushing oneself to improve through effort and resilience, often as a moral or national ideal (as in 自强不息).

verb
to strengthen oneselfto strive for self-improvement (with a connotation of resilience and moral effort)

Examples

  • 自强，。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù hěn zì qiáng, yù dào kùn nan cóng bú fàng qì.
    He has been self-strengthening since childhood and never gives up when facing difficulties.
  • 。
    zì qiáng Bù xī shì zhōng huá mín zú de chuán tǒng jīng shén.
    Constant self-improvement is a traditional spirit of the Chinese nation.
  • ，自强。
    Tā tōng guò nǔ lì xué xí, shí xiàn le zì qiáng.
    She achieved self-strengthening through hard study.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìoneself
强qiángstrengthen

自 (oneself) 强 (strengthen) points to becoming stronger through one's own effort.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 強; 强 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 強 pairs an insect component with a sound component; this explains 強, not the simplified 强.

Open 强 →
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