气

The Chinese character 气 (qì) is composed of two parts: the radical 米 (mǐ), which means "rice," and the phonetic component 气 (qì), which is a pictograph of a person holding a cooking pot over a fire. The original meaning of 气 was "steam" or "vapor," but over time it has come to take on a wide range of meanings, including "air," "breath," "energy," and "spirit."The character 气 is first attested in oracle bone script, the earliest known form of Chinese writing, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE). In oracle bone script, 气 is depicted as a person holding a cooking pot over a fire, with the steam rising from the pot. This image suggests that the original meaning of 气 was "steam" or "vapor."In the modern Chinese language, 气 is used in a wide variety of contexts. It can refer to the air that we breathe, the energy that flows through our bodies, or the spirit that animates all living things. 气 is also used in a number of idioms and proverbs, such as 一气呵成 (yī qì hē chéng), which means "to do something in one breath," and 元气大伤 (yuán qì dà shāng), which means "to suffer a great loss of energy."The character 气 is a complex and multifaceted character with a rich history and a wide range of meanings. It is an essential character for HSK learners to master, as it is used in a wide variety of contexts in the modern Chinese language.