交情
jiāo qing · HSK 7
friendship
🤝 交 (associate/exchange) + 情 (feelings) = the bond between friends
交 means to associate or exchange; 情 means feelings or affection. Pooled feelings between people who associate adds up to friendship. Note jiāo here is the same 交 as in 交朋友, to make friends.
交 — top 亠 + 父-like crossed legs
Originally a pictograph of a person standing with legs crossed, showing the idea of crossing or intersecting. From this concrete image, the meaning extended to abstract senses like 'exchange,' 'interact,' and 'hand over.' Modern uses such as 交流 (exchange) and 交通 (traffic) all trace back to this core notion of crossing.
情 — heart radical 忄 + 青 (qīng)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 signals that the meaning involves feelings or inner states, while 青 supplies the sound 'qing'. Originally referring to genuine feelings or emotion arising from the heart, 情 expanded to cover sentiment, affection, and circumstances or situations more broadly.