修建
xiū jiàn · HSK 5
to build
🏗️ 修 = repair/cultivate + 建 = establish/build → construct
修 carries the sense of working on or perfecting something; 建 means to establish or erect. Together they describe construction work — building roads, bridges, houses — the act of putting something up and refining it into shape.
修 — 亻 person + 攸 (phonetic) + 彡 hair/decoration
修 combines 攸 (a phonetic component originally showing a person being washed) with 彡, which depicts flowing hair or ornamental strokes. The 彡 element suggests grooming, polishing, or adorning, giving 修 its core meaning of cultivating, repairing, or refining oneself or things.
建 — 廴 (stride radical) + 聿 (writing brush)
Originally depicted a hand holding a brush (聿) combined with the 廴 'stride/extend' radical, suggesting drawing out or laying down lines. From this came the meaning of setting up or establishing, as in marking out the foundations of a building. Today it broadly means to build, establish, or construct.