崇尚
chóng shàng · HSK 7
to hold in esteem
🏆🙌 chóng shàng sounds like THRONG SHANG-ri-la — a throng revering paradise
崇 (chóng) means lofty or sublime, 尚 (shàng) means to esteem. Together they form revere or advocate — holding something up as a lofty ideal worth following.
尚 — 八 (eight/divide) over 向 (window/direction)
Originally depicted vapor or breath rising and dispersing upward from an opening, suggesting elevation and what is above. From this came the meanings 'still,' 'yet,' and 'to esteem' — what one looks up to. The modern senses of 'esteem' and 'still/yet' both stem from this upward orientation.