生气
shēngqì · HSK 1
get angry
😠 生气 = generate (生) + qi/energy (气); literally 'produce angry-energy'
生 means produce or generate; 气 means breath, air, or vital energy (qi). Together: to generate hot qi inside you — the Chinese metaphor for anger rising as heated breath.
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.
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.