想方设法
xiǎng fāng shè fǎ · HSK 7
to think up every possible method
🧠 想 think + 方 ways + 设 devise + 法 means — pile up all four for try every trick
The four characters stack two method-words: 想方 (think of ways) plus 设法 (devise means). Together they describe leaving no method untried — using this, that, and every other approach to get something done.
想 — heart 心 + 相 (xiāng, phonetic)
想 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning, since classical Chinese located thought and feeling in the heart. The top component 相 (xiāng) supplies the sound, and over time the character settled into the senses 'to think,' 'to want,' and 'to miss.'
方 — pictograph of a plow or two boats joined side by side
方 originated as a pictograph, traditionally interpreted as a plow handle or two boats lashed together. From the idea of paired boats it extended to mean 'side by side,' then 'square,' 'direction,' and 'region.' It was later borrowed for the abstract sense of 'method' or 'way.'
设 — speech 讠 + hand holding tool 殳
设 combines 讠 (speech) with 殳 (a hand wielding a tool or weapon), suggesting giving orders to set something up. The original sense was to arrange or establish through command, which extended to today's meanings of 'set up,' 'design,' or 'suppose.'
法 — water 氵 + go 去
Originally written 灋, combining the water radical 氵 (suggesting a level standard, like water finding its level), the mythical beast 廌 (which judged guilt), and 去 (to remove or banish). The 廌 was later dropped, leaving 法. The core meaning evolved from 'law' or 'standard' to also include 'method' and 'way of doing'.