初衷
chū zhōng · HSK 7
original intention or aspiration
🌱❤️ 初 beginning + 衷 inner heart = the aspiration you started with
衷 wraps 中 center inside 衣 clothing — your core hidden under layers. 初 is a knife cutting cloth, a first act. Together: the heartfelt aim from day one.
初 — clothes radical 衤 + knife 刀
初 combines 衤 (clothes) and 刀 (knife), depicting the act of cutting cloth to begin making a garment. From this concrete image of starting a tailoring task came the extended meaning 'beginning' or 'first'. It is an associative compound, not phonetic.