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强

強
qiǎng / qiáng / jiàng
verb #669

Meanings

  1. 1 to force; to compel
  2. 2 to strive; to make an effort
  3. 3 to do reluctantly; to do with difficulty

Examples

不要强人所难。
Bùyào qiǎng rén suǒ nán.
Don't force people to do what's hard for them.
感情是不能强求的。
Gǎnqíng shì bùnéng qiǎng qiú de.
Feelings can't be forced.
勉强接受。
Miǎn qiǎng jiēshòu.
Reluctantly accept; barely accept.

Tips

usage
The qiǎng reading rarely stands alone — it lives inside set compounds you should memorize as units: 勉强 (reluctant / barely), 强迫 (to compel), 强求 (to demand), 强人所难 (to push someone past their limit), 牵强 (far-fetched).
memory
Memory hook: qiáng = adjective 'strong', qiǎng = verb 'to force'. The dipping third tone matches the act of pushing someone down to make them comply — sound mirrors the meaning.

Components

radical
弓 gōng
bow
Bow radical on the left — the indexing semantic. The original meaning was a tough, hard bow, since tension is what makes a bow strong. Strength was conceptualized through weapon-tension. Same radical anchors 弱 weak, 引 to draw, 张 to stretch open.
phonetic
虽 suī
rice-weevil (here phonetic)
Right side (口 over 虫) supplies the sound: 虽 drifted to qiáng across millennia of Old Chinese sound shifts. 虽 also depicts a hard-shelled weevil; the tough-insect imagery merged with the bow on the left to give the modern senses 'strong, tough, forceful'.

Stroke Order

强 qiǎng