斗志
doù zhì · HSK 7
fighting spirit
🥊🔥 doù zhì = struggle-container + will — a bucket full of fight
斗 (dòu) means struggle or fight, 志 (zhì) means will or ambition. Together they form fighting spirit — the determination that keeps you swinging when the odds stack up.
斗 — pictograph of a ladle/dipper with handle
斗 originally depicted a long-handled ladle or dipper used to scoop grain or wine, and by extension became a unit of dry measure (about 10 liters). The same graph was later borrowed for the unrelated meaning 'to fight,' which in simplified Chinese merged with the traditional character 鬥. Context tells the two senses apart.