要强
yào qiáng · HSK 7
strong-minded
💪 要 = want + 强 = strong: someone who wants to be strong, eager to get ahead
The two characters literally stack want and strong, so 要强 is the drive to be the strong one who excels. 要 contributes the yào sound, 强 the qiáng.
要 — west 覀 (top) + woman 女 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph of a woman with hands on her waist, meaning 'waist' (the original form of 腰). The top 覀 is a stylized depiction of the waist area, not the character for 'west'. Over time it was borrowed for the meaning 'to want, important', so 腰 (with 月 flesh radical) was created for the original 'waist' sense.
强 — bow 弓 + elong 㔾 + insect 虫
Originally written 強, depicting a type of strong-shelled insect or weevil, with 虫 (insect) as semantic and 弘 as phonetic. The meaning shifted from the insect's tough shell to the general sense of 'strong, powerful, forceful.' The form 强 is a common variant where 弘 is replaced by 弓+口.