功力
gōnglì · HSK 7
craftsmanship
💪 功力 = 功 (achievement/work) + 力 (strength) = skill power
功 means merit or achievement (work that bears fruit); 力 is strength or force. Together: the accumulated strength of one's craft — efficacy, skill level, or kung-fu-like mastery built through effort.
功 — work 工 (phonetic) + strength 力 (semantic)
功 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 力 (strength, a pictograph of a plow or flexed arm) gives the meaning, while 工 (work, originally a carpenter's square) supplies the sound. Together they convey effort applied to work — hence 'achievement, merit, accomplishment.'
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'.