亲手
qīn shoǔ · HSK 7
with one's own hands
✋ 亲 (personally/own) + 手 (hand) = doing it with your own hand, personally
手 is the everyday word for hand. 亲 carries the sense of close or personal (as in 亲人, close kin), so 亲手 stacks personal onto hand: a deed done by your own hand, not delegated.
亲 — 立 (stand) + 木 (tree); simplified from 親
The traditional form 親 combined 亲 (phonetic, depicting a hazelnut tree) with 見 (see), suggesting closeness through frequent seeing of family. In simplified Chinese, 見 was dropped, leaving 亲. It now means 'parent,' 'intimate,' or 'in person,' and as qìng denotes in-laws.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.