勉强
miǎnqiǎng · HSK 7
do with difficulty
勉 exert + 强 force = force yourself = do it reluctantly, barely managing
Both halves push the same way: 勉 means to strive or exert, 强 means strong or to force. Stacked together they describe doing something only by forcing yourself through it, so it gets done with difficulty or grudgingly.
强 — bow 弓 + elong 㔾 + insect 虫
Originally written 強, depicting a type of strong-shelled insect or weevil, with 虫 (insect) as semantic and 弘 as phonetic. The meaning shifted from the insect's tough shell to the general sense of 'strong, powerful, forceful.' The form 强 is a common variant where 弘 is replaced by 弓+口.