苦心
kǔ xīn · HSK 7
painstaking effort
☕❤️ 苦心 = 苦 bitter + 心 heart: a heart pushed through bitterness = painstaking effort
苦 means bitter (like strong unsweetened coffee) and 心 means heart. Putting your heart through something bitter is taking great pains over it, so 苦心 is laborious, trouble-taking effort.
苦 — grass radical 艹 + 古 (old)
Originally referred to a bitter-tasting plant, with the grass radical 艹 indicating its botanical nature and 古 providing the phonetic element. The meaning extended from the literal bitter taste to figurative senses of hardship, suffering, and painful effort.
心 — pictograph of a heart with chambers and aorta
心 is a pictograph showing a stylized heart, with strokes representing the organ's chambers and the aorta at the top. Originally meaning the physical heart, it broadened to cover mind, feelings, and intentions, since ancient Chinese thought located thinking and emotion in the heart.