轻而易举
qīng ér yì jǔ · HSK 7
easy
🪶 轻 light + 而 and + 易 easy + 举 lift = so light it lifts with no effort
Literally to lift something light is easy: 轻 (light) and 易 (easy) pair up, while 举 means to lift or raise. A task that lifts as lightly as a feather takes no difficulty at all.
轻 — vehicle radical 车 + 巠 (phonetic)
轻 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 车 (vehicle) gives the meaning, originally referring to a light, swift chariot. The right side 巠 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'light cart' to 'light in weight' and figuratively 'slight' or 'gentle'.
而 — pictograph of beard/whiskers hanging from chin
Originally a pictograph of a beard or facial hair hanging below the chin, visible clearly in oracle bone and bronze script forms. The beard meaning was lost early, and the character was borrowed phonetically to write the grammatical conjunction 'and/but/yet'. This connective use has been standard since classical Chinese.
举 — hands 𠆢 + give 与 (simplified from 擧)
Originally written 擧, showing hands (手) lifting something together with the phonetic 與 'together'. The simplified form 举 keeps the idea of many hands raising up. Core meaning 'to lift, raise' extended to 'to launch, propose, hold (an event)'.