清新
qīngxīn · HSK 7
pure and fresh
🌿💧 清 clear/pure + 新 new = clear-and-new, the crisp feeling of fresh air or a clean style
清 (qīng) is the clear/pure in 清水 clear water; 新 (xīn) is new/fresh as in 新年 new year. Together they mark anything refreshingly clean: morning air, an uncluttered design, an understated fashion look.
清 — water 氵 + 青 (azure/blue-green, phonetic)
清 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning—originally clear, unmuddied water—while 青 (qīng, azure) supplies the sound and reinforces the image of pure blue-green water. The sense later broadened from 'clear water' to 'clear, pure, clean' in general.
新 — 立 stand + 木 tree + 斤 axe
Originally depicted cutting fresh wood with an axe (斤) from a tree (木), with 辛/立 as the phonetic component. The original meaning of 'firewood' was later written as 薪, while 新 took on the extended sense of 'new' or 'fresh'.