人气
rén qì · HSK 7
popularity
🔥 人气 = person + air/energy: the buzz of people around someone = popularity
人 means person and 气 means air or energy; together the 'energy of people' gathering around something is its popularity. The same 气 shows up in 天气 (weather) and 生气 (angry).
人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.
气 — steam/vapor radical 气
Originally a pictograph of rising vapor or clouds drifting in the sky, depicting curling streams of air. The character came to mean breath, air, and by extension vital energy or 'qi.' The simplified form 气 keeps the original outline; the traditional 氣 added 米 (rice) to suggest steam rising from cooking grain.