力
lì · HSK 3
strength
💪 力 is a pictograph of a flexed arm or plow — the original symbol for physical strength
Oracle-bone 力 depicts a muscular arm or a hand-plow, both tools requiring force. It appears in 男 (man = field + strength) and 努 (effort). The pronunciation lì is a falling 4th tone.
力 — pictograph of a plow or arm muscle
力 originated as a pictograph of an ancient plow, the main tool requiring physical exertion in early agriculture. Some scholars also see it as a flexed arm showing muscle. From this concrete image it broadened to mean 'strength, power, force, effort'.