肝心
かんじん · kanjin · JLPT N1 · na-adj
essential
🫀 肝 (liver) + 心 (heart) = the two vital organs, so the core is essential
Both organs keep the body alive, so the compound names what everything else depends on. In use, 肝心な (kanjin na) marks the crucial part, as in 肝心なところ, the key point.
肝 — flesh radical 月 (肉) + 干 gān phonetic
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 月 is the 'flesh/meat' radical (from 肉), used for body organs. The right side 干 supplies the sound 'gān'. Together they denote the liver, an internal organ.
心 — pictograph of a heart with chambers and aorta
心 is a pictograph showing a stylized heart, with strokes representing the organ's chambers and the aorta at the top. Originally meaning the physical heart, it broadened to cover mind, feelings, and intentions, since ancient Chinese thought located thinking and emotion in the heart.