勤工俭学
qín gōng jiǎn xué · HSK 7
to work part time while studying
📖💼 勤 diligent + 工 work + 俭 thrifty + 学 study: earn frugally while studying
Four-character compound: 勤工 (diligent work) plus 俭学 (thrifty study). It names the work-study setup where a student earns money part-time to fund their education.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.