逃生
táo shēng · HSK 7
to flee for one's life
🏃 逃 (flee) + 生 (life) = run to save your life
逃 means to flee or escape; 生 means life or to live. Together they describe fleeing so you keep your life — escaping a fire, flood, or other deadly danger.
逃 — 辶 walk radical + 兆 zhào (phonetic)
逃 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The walking radical 辶 carries the meaning of motion or going, while 兆 supplies the sound. Together they convey the idea of moving away, hence 'to flee' or 'to escape'.
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.