兴高采烈
xìng gāo cǎi liè · HSK 7
happy and excited
🎉😄 兴 spirits + 高 high + 采 complexion + 烈 blazing = spirits high, face glowing
高 — pictograph of a tall building/tower
高 is a pictograph of a tall structure, likely a watchtower or multi-story gate, with a roof on top, an upper chamber, and a base below. From this concrete image of height it extended to the general meanings 'tall,' 'high,' and figuratively 'lofty' or 'noble.'
采 — hand 爫 (claw) on top of tree 木
采 is an ideographic character showing a hand (爫) reaching down over a tree (木), depicting picking fruit or leaves. Its original meaning was 'to pluck' or 'gather,' which extended to 'collect' and 'select.' Later it also took on the sense of 'colorful' or 'variegated,' a meaning now often written as 彩.