运气
yùnqì · HSK 4
luck
🍀 运 (transport/move) + 气 (qi/energy) — the flow of energy that moves your way
运 means to transport or move; 气 is qi, vital energy. Together: the way energy moves toward or away from you — fortune. Compare 运动 (sports = moving energy) and 天气 (weather = sky qi).
运 — walk radical 辶 + 军 jūn (army)
Originally depicted an army (军) on the move (辶), meaning to transport or move troops. The sense broadened to 'transport, move, revolve' and later acquired the abstract meaning of 'fortune' or 'luck'—what fate moves toward you. The simplified form replaces traditional 運.
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.