保养
bǎoyǎng · HSK 5
maintain
🛡️💪 保 = protect + 养 = nourish → protect-and-nourish (your health/car)
保 means protect or safeguard; 养 means to nurture, raise, or maintain. Together they mean keeping something in good condition through ongoing care — used for health, skin, machinery, and cars alike.
保 — person 亻 + 呆 (child/protect phonetic)
Originally an ideograph showing an adult carrying a child on the back, meaning to protect or shield. The right side 呆 evolved from a depiction of a swaddled infant. Over time the meaning broadened from 'protect a child' to 'preserve, guarantee, keep safe.'
养 — sheep 羊 (top) + 八 over 艮-like base; simplified from 養 (食 + 羊)
The traditional form 養 combined 食 'food' with 羊 'sheep' as the phonetic, depicting the act of feeding sheep and, by extension, raising or nourishing living things. The simplified form 养 keeps 羊 on top but drops the 食 component. From 'feed' the meaning broadened to rear, support, and cultivate.