动力
dònglì · HSK 3
power
🚗⚡ 动 (move) + 力 (force/power) = moving force = driving force
动 means move/motion; 力 means strength or power. Together they literally spell out motive-power — the force that drives something forward, whether a car engine or someone's motivation.
动 — force 力 + heavy/重 (simplified from 動)
The traditional form 動 combines 重 (heavy) as the phonetic with 力 (force/strength) as the semantic, suggesting the effort needed to move something heavy. The simplified form 动 replaces 重 with 云, keeping 力 to convey action and motion.
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'.