苦心
くしん · kushin · JLPT N2 · noun
pain
🫀 苦 = bitter/suffering + 心 = heart: a heart full of suffering means pain and trouble
苦 means bitter or suffering, and 心 means heart or mind. Together they describe a heart weighed down by pain and trouble. The word can also mean painstaking effort, as in working hard against difficulty.
苦 — grass radical 艹 + 古 (old)
Originally referred to a bitter-tasting plant, with the grass radical 艹 indicating its botanical nature and 古 providing the phonetic element. The meaning extended from the literal bitter taste to figurative senses of hardship, suffering, and painful effort.
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.