动身
dòng shēn · HSK 7
to leave
🧳 dong shen = DONG! your body (shen) moves — time to set off
动 means move, 身 means body. When your whole body moves, you are departing on a journey. The dong sound is like a bell signaling departure.
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.
身 — pictograph of a pregnant body
身 is a pictograph originally depicting a person with a swollen belly, representing a pregnant woman in profile. Over time the meaning broadened from 'pregnancy' or 'torso' to refer to the body in general, and by extension oneself or one's person.