环保
huánbǎo · HSK 3
environmental protection
🌍♻️ 环 = ring/encircle + 保 = protect; encircle-and-protect = environmental protection
环 means ring or surround (think of the surroundings around us), and 保 means to protect or guard. Together they form the compound for protecting our surrounding environment.
环 — jade radical 玉/王 + 睘 (huán phonetic)
环 is a phono-semantic compound. The left side 王 (a form of 玉 'jade') gives the meaning, since the original sense was a circular jade ring worn as an ornament. The right side 睘 supplies the sound 'huán'. From 'jade ring' the meaning broadened to 'ring, loop, encircle,' and in modern Chinese also 'environment' in 环境.
保 — person 亻 + 呆 (child/protect phonetic)
Originally an ideograph showing an adult carrying a child on the back, meaning to protect or shield. The right side 呆 evolved from a depiction of a swaddled infant. Over time the meaning broadened from 'protect a child' to 'preserve, guarantee, keep safe.'