The Chinese word 挑衅 (tiǎoxìn), meaning "to provoke" or "to pick a quarrel", is a compound formed through semantic combination. The first character, 挑 (tiǎo), carries the core meaning of "to stir up", "to poke", or "to incite". The second character, 衅 (xìn), originally referred to ancient blood-oath rituals or cracks in ceremonial vessels, but its meaning evolved to signify "a quarrel", "a dispute", or "a breach". When combined, 挑 provides the active verb sense of instigating, while 衅 specifies the target or result as a conflict or strife, thus creating the complete concept of deliberately provoking a confrontation or challenge.