士气
shìqì · HSK 7
morale
🎺 士气 = soldier (士) + spirit/qi (气) = the fighting spirit of troops = morale
士 is a soldier or scholar-warrior; 气 is breath, energy, or qi. Together the soldiers' energy is the group's morale. Same 气 shows up in 生气 (anger) and 天气 (weather).
气 — steam/vapor radical 气
Originally a pictograph of rising vapor or clouds drifting in the sky, depicting curling streams of air. The character came to mean breath, air, and by extension vital energy or 'qi.' The simplified form 气 keeps the original outline; the traditional 氣 added 米 (rice) to suggest steam rising from cooking grain.