About
The word **关怀** (guānhuái), meaning "to show care/solicitude," is a classic example of a Chinese compound formed through **semantic complementation**, where two characters with related meanings combine to create a more nuanced, abstract concept. The first character, **关** (guān), originally meant "a gate bar" or "to close," but by extension carries the sense of "to involve" or "to be concerned with," establishing the sphere of attention. The second character, **怀** (huái), means "bosom" or "to cherish in one's heart," contributing the core idea of intimate, heartfelt feeling. Thus, the compound **关怀** metaphorically evolves from the literal notions of "involvement" and "holding in the heart" to express the profound, affectionate concern of one person for another.