收复
shoū fù · HSK 7
to recover
🏳️ 收复 = 收 take-back + 复 restore = retake lost land
收 means to take in or collect; 复 means to restore or return to a former state. Together: to take back and restore territory that was lost, i.e. recapture it.
收 — 丩 (jiū, cord/bind) + 攵 (rap/strike, action)
Originally written 收, this character combines 丩 'twisted cord' as the phonetic with 攵 'a hand holding a stick' as the semantic, depicting the action of binding up captives or gathering things together by force. The core sense 'to gather, collect, harvest' grew naturally from this image of rounding up and tying.