鼓励
gǔlì · HSK 5
encourage
🥁 鼓 (drum) + 励 (urge on) = beat the drum to spur someone on
鼓 literally means drum; 励 means to encourage or strive. Together they form the idea of drumming someone forward, the way war drums once rallied troops into action.
鼓 — 壴 (drum on stand) + 攴 (hand with stick)
鼓 is a pictograph showing a drum mounted on a stand (壴) being struck by a hand holding a stick (攴/支). It originally depicted the act of beating a drum, and the meaning naturally extended from the instrument itself to the verb 'to beat, to rouse, to encourage.'