聚精会神
jù jīng huì shén · HSK 7
to concentrate one's attention (idiom)
🔬 聚 gather + 精 essence + 会 assemble + 神 spirit = pull all your focus together
聚 — 取 (qǔ) phonetic + 乑 (yín, crowd of people)
聚 originally depicted a gathering of people, with 乑 showing three figures standing together to suggest a crowd. The component 取 (to take) provides the phonetic clue for the reading jù. Over time the meaning broadened from 'assembling people' to any kind of gathering, collecting, or amassing.
精 — rice 米 + blue/green 青 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 米 (rice) gives the meaning, while 青 supplies the sound. Originally referred to polished, refined rice — grain with the husk removed. The sense broadened to 'refined, pure, essence,' and later 'fine, skilled, spirit.'
会 — 人 person on top + 云 cloud/say below (simplified from 會)
The traditional form 會 showed a lid over a vessel with contents stacked inside, depicting things coming together — hence 'meet, gather, assemble.' From 'gathering' it extended to 'meeting,' then 'understand' (minds meeting) and 'be able to.' The simplified 会 keeps only a schematic top and bottom.
神 — 示 (altar/spirit) + 申 (lightning, phonetic)
神 combines 示, depicting an altar associated with rituals and spirits, with 申, originally a pictograph of lightning streaking across the sky. Ancient people saw lightning as a manifestation of divine power, so 申 contributes both sound and the idea of awe-inspiring force. Together they mean 'spirit' or 'god'.