气管
qì guǎn · HSK 7
windpipe
🫁💨 气 (air/gas) + 管 (tube/pipe) = air tube = the windpipe
气 means air, breath, or gas; 管 means tube or pipe. Together they name the air-tube that carries breath to the lungs: the trachea. The same 管 shows up in other 'tube/duct' words like 血管 (blood vessel).
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.
管 — bamboo radical 竹 + official 官 (phonetic)
Originally a pictograph of a bamboo tube or pipe, written with the bamboo radical 竹 on top. The lower component 官 supplies the sound. From 'bamboo pipe' it extended to 'tube,' then to 'manage' or 'control' — since pipes channel and regulate flow, the meaning shifted toward administration.