阳光

yángguāng · HSK 3

sunlight

☀️ 阳光 = 阳 (sun/yang) + 光 (light) — literally sun-light

阳 is the sunny/yang side (opposite of 阴 yin/shade), and 光 means light or ray. Together 阳光 is the light coming from the sun: sunlight, sunshine, sunrays.

光 — fire 火 (top) + person 儿 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph of a person with fire above their head, depicting a torchbearer or the radiance from a flame. The character evolved to mean 'light' or 'brightness' in general, and by extension 'glory' and 'to shine.' The modern top component is a stylized form of 火 (fire).

More Chinese words · How Chinese works