依依不舍
yī yī bù shě · HSK 7
reluctant to part
👋 依 lean-on + 依 lean-on + 不 not + 舍 let-go = clinging twice, won't let go
舍 means to release or give up, so 不舍 is not letting go. The doubled 依 (to lean on, depend) stacks the clinging feeling, giving the sense of someone too attached to say goodbye.
依 — person radical 亻 + clothing 衣
A semantic-phonetic compound: 亻(person) gives the meaning of relying on someone, while 衣 (yī, clothing) supplies the sound. The original sense pictured a person leaning on or wrapped in clothing, extended to the modern meanings of 'rely on,' 'depend on,' and 'according to.'
依 — person radical 亻 + clothing 衣
A semantic-phonetic compound: 亻(person) gives the meaning of relying on someone, while 衣 (yī, clothing) supplies the sound. The original sense pictured a person leaning on or wrapped in clothing, extended to the modern meanings of 'rely on,' 'depend on,' and 'according to.'
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.