勇于
yǒngyū · HSK 7
have the courage to
🦁 勇 = brave + 于 = in/toward, so be brave in doing something hard
勇 carries courage (as in 勇敢, brave); 于 is the classical particle meaning in or toward. Stuck together they mean to bravely step toward a thing instead of dodging it: have the courage to act.
于 — two horizontal strokes 二 + vertical hook 亅
于 originated as a pictograph of breath or sound flowing outward, depicting exhalation through a passage. In oracle bone script it resembled a curved line showing motion or extension. Over time it became a grammatical preposition meaning 'at,' 'in,' or 'to,' losing its original concrete sense.