The Chinese word "艺术" (yìshù, meaning "art") is formed through the historical combination of two characters: "艺", which originally depicted the act of planting or cultivating in ancient times, symbolizing skilled craftsmanship or cultivated talent, and "术", which signifies method, technique, or specialized knowledge. Together, they conceptually merge to represent art as the disciplined practice and technique of creative expression, reflecting an evolution from literal cultivation to metaphorical cultivation of artistic skills.